Natural hazards · Russell

Russell, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Russell comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1985.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Russell?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Russell to be higher than in 1% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves60%Inland flooding26%Strong wind5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Russell faces

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

Cold waves

60% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 8% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

HurricanesEarthquakesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Russell flood?

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

1paid claims since 1985

$394paid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19852026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bayfield County.

Disasters that hit Russell

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into RussellDeclared for Bayfield County only

Bayfield County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Russell

Russell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Russellmostly cold wavesVery low

Bayfieldmostly cold wavesVery low

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. Russell covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Russell’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Russell. 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 Russell total about $1.5M 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.