Natural hazards · Buford

Buford, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buford comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buford?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buford to be higher than in 3% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves36%Inland flooding34%Tornadoes8%Winter weather6%Hail5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Buford 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 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 4% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Winter weather

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsHeat 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 Buford flood?

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

4paid claims since 1978

$24Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Williams County.

Disasters that hit Buford

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into BufordDeclared for Williams County only

Williams County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Buford

Buford and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Siouxmostly inland floodingModerate

Yellowstonemostly inland floodingModerate

Trimostly inland floodingModerate

Bufordmostly cold wavesVery low

Hardscrabblemostly cold wavesVery low

Trentonmostly cold wavesVery low

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