Natural hazards · Wauwatosa

Wauwatosa, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wauwatosa comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 117 claims here since 1983. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wauwatosa?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wauwatosa to be higher than in 19% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves47%Inland flooding36%Tornadoes8%Heat waves7%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Wauwatosa faces

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

Cold waves

47% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 Wauwatosa flood?

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

117paid claims since 1983

$6.8Mpaid to owners

8homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

2025-08-MilwaukeeMetro-Flood: 17 claims, $3.5M
Storm: 7 claims, $67K
2026-04-Flooding: 1 claim, $52K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (2) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Milwaukee County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

25flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

4buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Wauwatosa

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WauwatosaDeclared for Milwaukee County only

2026

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

41 households applied for aid $91K aid approved

2025

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

224 households applied for aid $1.5M aid approved

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$70K to the City of Wauwatosa for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

137 households applied for aid $293K aid approved $27K to the City of Wauwatosa for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

194 households applied for aid $254K aid approved $77K to the City of Wauwatosa for repairs

2008

Record Snow and Near Record Snow

$59K to the City of Wauwatosa for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2000

Snow

$45K to the City of Wauwatosa for repairs

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

Around Wauwatosa

Wauwatosa and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Milwaukeemostly cold wavesLow

Wauwatosamostly cold wavesVery low

Brookfieldmostly 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. Wauwatosa covers 13 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wauwatosa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Wauwatosa. 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 Wauwatosa total about $19.5M 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.