Natural hazards · Fort Dodge

Fort Dodge, KS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fort Dodge comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fort Dodge?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fort Dodge to be higher than in 64% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding50%Tornadoes16%Hail12%Cold waves8%Strong wind6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Fort Dodge faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 46 years in the area

Hail

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 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 Fort Dodge flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ford County.

Disasters that hit Fort Dodge

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Ford County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fort Dodge itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Fort DodgeDeclared for Ford County only

Ford County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Fort Dodge

Fort Dodge and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Fort Dodgemostly inland floodingHigh

Wilroads Gardensmostly inland floodingHigh

Enterprisemostly droughtModerate

Grandviewmostly inland floodingLow

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. Fort Dodge 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 Fort Dodge’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fort Dodge. 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.