Natural hazards · Seneca

Seneca, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Seneca comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Seneca?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Seneca to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding49%Cold waves13%Tornadoes12%Hail9%Heat waves9%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Seneca faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Seneca flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Crawford County.

Disasters that hit Seneca

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SenecaDeclared for Crawford County only

2018

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

$42K to the Town of Seneca for repairs

2016

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$15K to the Town of Seneca for repairs

2013

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$76K to the Town of Seneca for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $12K to the Town of Seneca for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$9K to the Town of Seneca for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $478 aid approved $142K to the Town of Seneca for repairs

2000

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$34K to the Town of Seneca for repairs

Crawford County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Seneca

Seneca and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Uticamostly inland floodingLow

Haneymostly inland floodingLow

Eastmanmostly inland floodingLow

Senecamostly inland floodingLow

Lynxvillemostly inland floodingLow

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