Natural hazards · Howard

Howard, WI natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Howard?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Howard to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves27%Tornadoes10%Strong wind6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Howard faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 23 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 Howard flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chippewa County.

Disasters that hit Howard

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HowardDeclared for Chippewa County only

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

Around Howard

Howard and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Colfaxmostly inland floodingHigh

Howardmostly inland floodingLow

Wheatonmostly inland floodingLow

Tildenmostly inland floodingLow

Cooks Valleymostly 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. Howard 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 Howard’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Howard. 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.