Natural hazards · Wales

Wales, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wales comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wales?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wales to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves22%Tornadoes20%Hail6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Wales faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

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

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Wales flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Waukesha County.

Disasters that hit Wales

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WalesDeclared for Waukesha County only

2026

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2025

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

2 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $12K aid approved

2008

Record Snow and Near Record Snow

$11K to the Village of Wales for repairs

2000

Snow

$5K to the Village of Wales for repairs

Waukesha County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Wales

Wales and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Geneseemostly inland floodingLow

Walesmostly inland floodingVery 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. Wales 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 Wales’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Wales. 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.