Natural hazards · Lawrence

Lawrence, WI natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lawrence?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lawrence to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves39%Tornadoes6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Lawrence 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 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

39% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Lawrence flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rusk County.

Disasters that hit Lawrence

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LawrenceDeclared for Rusk County only

Rusk County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Lawrence

Lawrence and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Growmostly inland floodingHigh

McKinleymostly inland floodingModerate

Lawrencemostly inland floodingModerate

Hawkinsmostly inland floodingModerate

Truemostly inland floodingModerate

Richlandmostly inland floodingModerate

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