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2009-0617-SilverStreet-HurleyPhoto: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0
A+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Hurley · FEMA

FEMA expects less hazard damage per building in Hurley than in 96% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Hurley gets an A+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 96% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (90%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 90%Lightning 4%Hail 3%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

less than 96%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
A+
in Wisconsin · lower than 96% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
90% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
3
of 9 declared for Iron County
By hazard

What Hurley faces

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

River and rain flooding

90%of expected building damage
Below average · lower than 76% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 3 years in the area
Smaller shares here
 Lightning top 0% Hail Tornadoes Strong wind Winter storms Wildfire Ice storms Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesEarthquakesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 57% of Hurley’s expected losses. Cold waves do little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Hurley’s grade

River and rain flooding is 90% of the building damage FEMA expects in Hurley, and Hurley’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 76% of U.S. census tracts. Lightning adds 4%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Hurley sits
Hurley
Least damageMiddleMost damage

A+ lower expected damage per building than 96% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Hurley’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding90%Lightning4%Everything else7%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $765K a year in losses across Hurley: $266K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Hurley’s 1,558 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Pence CDP (123 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Hurley flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Hurley. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of all homes are insured
No community discount

Hurley isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Iron County.
Disasters

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Hurley

Disasters that paid out in Hurley itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Hurley), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2018Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides$5K to the City of Hurley for repairs
  2. 2018Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding$25K to the City of Hurley for repairs
  3. 1999Wi-flood-07/20/99$3K to the City of Hurley for repairs
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in HurleyIron County only

Iron County has had 9 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

Old photos of Hurley after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Hurley archive →
Next door

Hurley and its neighbors

Hurley is 2nd of the 2 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Ironwood: hazard risk A+Kimball: not gradedCarey: not gradedMontreal: not gradedOma: not gradedIronwoodKimballCareyMontrealOmaHurley
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
IronwoodA+less damage than 98%river and rain flooding4
HurleyA+less damage than 96%river and rain flooding0
Kimball—580 residents; we grade 1,000+
Carey—291 residents; we grade 1,000+
Montreal—909 residents; we grade 1,000+
Oma—309 residents; we grade 1,000+

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Hurley faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
  • Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
  • Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
  • Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
  • Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Hurley

Is Hurley at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Hurley has lower expected damage per building than 96% of U.S. towns: A+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (90%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Is Hurley in a flood zone?

Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Iron County, 0.4% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.

How much is flood insurance in Hurley?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Hurley’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

What was the biggest storm in Hurley?

By FEMA money that reached Hurley, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding (2018): $25K to the City of Hurley for repairs.

Is Hurley at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (90%), and Hurley’s rate for it is lower than 76% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Hurley.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Hurley’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.