Natural hazards · River Falls

River Falls, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in River Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is River Falls?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in River Falls to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding46%Tornadoes22%Strong wind12%Cold waves10%Hail8%Everything else4%

By hazard

What River Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 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 River Falls flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pierce County.

Disasters that hit River Falls

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into River FallsDeclared for Pierce County only

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

Around River Falls

River Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

River Fallsmostly inland floodingModerate

Martellmostly inland floodingModerate

Trimbellemostly inland floodingModerate

Kinnickinnicmostly inland floodingModerate

Cliftonmostly inland floodingLow

River Fallsmostly inland floodingLow

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