Natural hazards · Manitowish Waters

Manitowish Waters, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Manitowish Waters 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 Manitowish Waters?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding49%Cold waves39%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Manitowish Waters faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

39% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Manitowish Waters flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Vilas County.

Disasters that hit Manitowish Waters

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Manitowish WatersDeclared for Vilas County only

Vilas County has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Manitowish Waters

Manitowish Waters and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Manitowish Watersmostly inland floodingLow

Boulder Junctionmostly inland floodingLow

Winchestermostly inland floodingLow

Mercermostly inland floodingLow

Shermanmostly inland floodingLow

Lac du Flambeaumostly cold wavesVery 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. Manitowish Waters 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 Manitowish Waters’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Manitowish Waters. 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.