Natural hazards · Buena Vista

Buena Vista, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buena Vista comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buena Vista?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buena Vista to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves46%Inland flooding23%Hail9%Strong wind6%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Buena Vista faces

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

Cold waves

46% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce 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 Buena Vista flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bowman County.

Disasters that hit Buena Vista

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Bowman County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Buena Vista itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Buena VistaDeclared for Bowman County only

Bowman County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Buena Vista

Buena Vista and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cedar Creekmostly cold wavesHigh

Buena Vistamostly cold wavesLow

Stillwatermostly cold wavesLow

Fischbeinmostly cold wavesLow

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. Buena Vista 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 Buena Vista’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Buena Vista. 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.