Natural hazards · Pepin

Pepin, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pepin comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1997. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pepin?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pepin to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding52%Tornadoes14%Cold waves13%Strong wind10%Hail7%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Pepin faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 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 Pepin flood?

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

3paid claims since 1997

$69Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19972026

Biggest named events

March 2019 Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $27K

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. Pepin isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Pepin County.

Disasters that hit Pepin

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PepinDeclared for Pepin County only

2001

Flooding, Severe Storms and Tornadoes

$14K to the Village of Pepin for repairs

Pepin County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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