Natural hazards · Osceola

Osceola, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Osceola comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2016. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Osceola?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Cold waves34%Inland flooding28%Tornadoes16%Strong wind10%Hail7%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Osceola faces

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

Cold waves

34% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 25 years in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Osceola flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Osceola, from FEMA’s records.

2paid claims since 2016

$63Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20162026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Polk County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

9flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Osceola

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Osceola itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Village of Osceola.

Brought FEMA money into OsceolaDeclared for Polk County only

2002

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

$262K to the Village of Osceola for repairs

Polk County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and tornadoes.

Around Osceola

Osceola and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Franconiamostly inland floodingModerate

Osceolamostly cold wavesVery low

Farmingtonmostly cold wavesVery low

Osceolamostly 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. Osceola 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 Osceola’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Osceola. 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.