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Natural hazards · Gays Mills

Gays Mills, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Gays Mills comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 103 claims here since 1978. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Gays Mills?

39
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Gays Mills to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding55%Cold waves12%Tornadoes10%Heat waves8%Hail7%Everything else6%
By hazard

What Gays Mills faces

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

Inland flooding

55% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Gays Mills flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Gays Mills, from FEMA’s records.

103paid claims since 1978
$3.0Mpaid to owners
18homes flooded more than once
19782026

Biggest named events

  • Storm: 31 claims, $882K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Gays Mills isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Crawford County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

43flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
17homes raised above flood level
Disasters that hit Gays Mills

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Gays MillsDeclared for Crawford County only
2018

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

59 households applied for aid $205K aid approved $183K to the Village of Gays Mills for repairs
2017

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mud

$7K to the Village of Gays Mills for repairs
2016

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$61K to the Village of Gays Mills for repairs
2013

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$22K to the Village of Gays Mills for repairs
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

76 households applied for aid $139K aid approved $102K to the Village of Gays Mills for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

140 households applied for aid $920K aid approved $223K to the Village of Gays Mills for repairs
2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $11K aid approved
2000

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$15K to the Village of Gays Mills for repairs
Crawford County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Gays Mills

Gays Mills and the towns around it

Utica: Low, mostly inland floodingClayton: Low, mostly inland floodingBell Center: Low, mostly inland floodingFreeman: Low, mostly inland floodingSeneca: Low, mostly inland floodingFranklin: High, mostly inland floodingHaney: Low, mostly inland floodingKickapoo: High, mostly inland floodingAkan: High, mostly inland floodingScott: Low, mostly inland floodingSylvan: High, mostly inland floodingGays Mills: Low, mostly inland flooding Gays MillsUticaClaytonBell Center
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Gays Millsmostly inland floodingLow
Uticamostly inland floodingLow
Claytonmostly inland floodingLow
Bell Centermostly 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. Gays Mills 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 Gays Mills’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Gays Mills. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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