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 low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1998. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is River Falls?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding40%Tornadoes26%Cold waves13%Strong wind11%Hail6%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

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

26% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

6% 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?

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

1paid claims since 1998

$1Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19982026

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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit River Falls

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in River Falls itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of River Falls.

Brought FEMA money into River FallsDeclared for Pierce County only

2001

Flooding, Severe Storms and Tornadoes

$93K to the City of River Falls for repairs

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

Kinnickinnicmostly inland floodingModerate

River Fallsmostly inland floodingLow

Troymostly 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 covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

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 City of River Falls. 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 River Falls total about $3.9M 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.