Natural hazards · Fountain Prairie

Fountain Prairie, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fountain Prairie comes from hail, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fountain Prairie?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fountain Prairie to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.

Hail52%Inland flooding22%Cold waves9%Tornadoes9%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Fountain Prairie faces

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

Hail

52% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Fountain Prairie flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Columbia County.

Disasters that hit Fountain Prairie

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Fountain Prairie itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Fountain Prairie.

Brought FEMA money into Fountain PrairieDeclared for Columbia County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$11K to the Town of Fountain Prairie for repairs

2000

Snow

$2K to the Town of Fountain Prairie for repairs

Columbia County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Fountain Prairie

Fountain Prairie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Otsegomostly hailHigh

Courtlandmostly hailHigh

Fountain Prairiemostly hailHigh

Columbusmostly hailHigh

Elbamostly inland floodingLow

Calamusmostly inland floodingLow

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. Fountain Prairie 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 Fountain Prairie’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Fountain Prairie. 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.