Natural hazards · Medford

Medford, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Medford 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 Medford?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Medford to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding41%Cold waves35%Tornadoes11%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Medford faces

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

Inland flooding

41% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

35% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce 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 Medford flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Taylor County.

Disasters that hit Medford

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MedfordDeclared for Taylor County only

Taylor County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Medford

Medford and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Little Blackmostly inland floodingLow

Deer Creekmostly inland floodingLow

Medfordmostly inland floodingLow

Medfordmostly 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. Medford covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Medford’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Medford. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Medford total about $1.6M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.