Natural hazards · Grand Forks

Grand Forks, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Grand Forks comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 328 claims here since 1978. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Grand Forks?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Grand Forks to be higher than in 42% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves45%Inland flooding38%Tornadoes6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Grand Forks faces

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

Cold waves

45% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

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 Grand Forks flood?

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

328paid claims since 1978

$9.2Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 29 claims, $117K
Winter storm: 1 claim, $227

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Polk County.

Disasters that hit Grand Forks

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Grand Forks itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Grand Forks.

Brought FEMA money into Grand ForksDeclared for Polk County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$2K to the Township of Grand Forks for repairs

Polk County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Grand Forks

Grand Forks and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Esthermostly inland floodingVery high

Sullivanmostly inland floodingVery high

Grand Forksmostly cold wavesModerate

Falconermostly inland floodingLow

East Grand Forksmostly 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. Grand Forks covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Grand Forks’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Grand Forks. 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 Grand Forks total about $1.7M 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.