Natural hazards · Sterling

Sterling, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sterling comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sterling?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sterling to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding38%Cold waves32%Tornadoes12%Strong wind7%Hail5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Sterling faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

32% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 18 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 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 Sterling flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Polk County.

Disasters that hit Sterling

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SterlingDeclared for Polk County only

2000

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$217K to the Town of Sterling for repairs

Polk County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and tornadoes.

Around Sterling

Sterling and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sunrisemostly inland floodingHigh

Amadormostly inland floodingModerate

Andersonmostly inland floodingLow

Sterlingmostly inland floodingLow

Laketownmostly inland floodingLow

Eurekamostly cold wavesLow

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