Natural hazards · Prairie Lake

Prairie Lake, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Prairie Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Prairie Lake?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Prairie Lake to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding38%Cold waves36%Tornadoes10%Hail6%Strong wind5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Prairie Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 28 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 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 Prairie Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Barron County.

Disasters that hit Prairie Lake

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Prairie Lake itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Prairie Lake.

Brought FEMA money into Prairie LakeDeclared for Barron County only

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$79K to the Town of Prairie Lake for repairs

2001

Flooding, Severe Storms and Tornadoes

$9K to the Town of Prairie Lake for repairs

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

Around Prairie Lake

Prairie Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prairie Lakemostly inland floodingModerate

Sioux Creekmostly inland floodingModerate

Chetekmostly inland floodingModerate

Maple Grovemostly cold wavesLow

Stanleymostly cold wavesLow

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. Prairie Lake 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 Prairie Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Prairie Lake. 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.