Natural hazards · Helvetia

Helvetia, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Helvetia comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Helvetia?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Helvetia to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding42%Cold waves30%Tornadoes13%Hail6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Helvetia faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 18 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Helvetia flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Waupaca County.

Disasters that hit Helvetia

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Waupaca County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Helvetia itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into HelvetiaDeclared for Waupaca County only

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

Around Helvetia

Helvetia and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Unionmostly inland floodingLow

Wyomingmostly inland floodingLow

Iolamostly inland floodingLow

Helvetiamostly inland floodingVery low

St. Lawrencemostly inland floodingVery 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. Helvetia 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 Helvetia’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Helvetia. 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.