Natural hazards · Townsend

Townsend, WI natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Townsend to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding61%Cold waves22%Tornadoes7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Townsend faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 16 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 Townsend flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Oconto County.

Disasters that hit Townsend

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TownsendDeclared for Oconto County only

2019

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

$105K to the Town of Townsend for repairs

Oconto County has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

Around Townsend

Townsend and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Townsendmostly inland floodingLow

Dotymostly inland floodingLow

Lakewoodmostly inland floodingLow

Riverviewmostly inland floodingLow

Wolf Rivermostly cold wavesVery low

Wabenomostly cold wavesVery low

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