Natural hazards · Balfour

Balfour, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Balfour comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Balfour?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Balfour to be higher than in 4% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves36%Inland flooding21%Tornadoes10%Wildfire8%Winter weather8%Ice storms7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Balfour faces

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

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Wildfire

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Winter weather

8% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Ice storms

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Heat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Balfour flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McHenry County.

Disasters that hit Balfour

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BalfourDeclared for McHenry County only

2011

Flooding

11 households applied for aid $35K aid approved $6K to the City of Balfour for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

5 households applied for aid $14K aid approved $2K to the City of Balfour for repairs

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ground Saturation

$814 to the City of Balfour for repairs

1999

Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, and Tor

$5K to the City of Balfour for repairs

McHenry County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Balfour 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 Balfour’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Balfour. 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.