Natural hazards · Clayton

Clayton, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Clayton comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Clayton?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Clayton to be higher than in 14% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves35%Inland flooding27%Tornadoes16%Strong wind9%Hail7%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Clayton faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Cold waves

35% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 23 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Clayton flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Clayton.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Clayton isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Polk County.

Disasters that hit Clayton

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Clayton itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Village of Clayton.

Brought FEMA money into ClaytonDeclared for Polk County only

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$10K to the Village of Clayton for repairs

Polk County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and tornadoes.

Around Clayton

Clayton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Turtle Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Claytonmostly cold wavesVery low

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Clayton is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Clayton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Clayton. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.