Natural hazards · Pella

Pella, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pella comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1996.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pella?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pella to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding40%Cold waves38%Tornadoes10%Strong wind5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Pella faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

38% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 18 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Pella flood?

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

2paid claims since 1996

$1Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Shawano County.

Disasters that hit Pella

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PellaDeclared for Shawano County only

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

Around Pella

Pella and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pellamostly inland floodingLow

Belle Plainemostly inland floodingLow

Grantmostly inland floodingLow

Hermanmostly cold wavesLow

Larrabeemostly 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. Pella covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pella’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Pella. 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 Pella total about $2.6M 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.