Natural hazards · Rusk

Rusk, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rusk 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 Rusk?

43
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding48%Cold waves38%Tornadoes6%Everything else8%
By hazard

What Rusk faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

38% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places
Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Rusk flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Rusk isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Rusk County.
Disasters that hit Rusk

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into RuskDeclared for Rusk County only
Rusk County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Rusk

Rusk and the towns around it

Big Bend: High, mostly inland floodingChetek: Moderate, mostly inland floodingStrickland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSampson: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWashington: High, mostly inland floodingStubbs: High, mostly inland floodingChetek: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPrairie Lake: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSumner: Low, mostly cold wavesDovre: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWilkinson: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWeyerhaeuser: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBirch Creek: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBloomer: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRusk: Moderate, mostly inland flooding RuskBig BendChetekStricklandSampson
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Big Bendmostly inland floodingHigh
Sampsonmostly inland floodingModerate
Ruskmostly inland floodingModerate
Chetekmostly inland floodingModerate
Stricklandmostly inland floodingModerate
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. Rusk 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 Rusk’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Rusk. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01