Natural hazards · Columbus

Columbus, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Columbus comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1997. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Columbus?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Columbus to be higher than in 12% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves51%Inland flooding24%Everything else25%

By hazard

What Columbus faces

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

Cold waves

51% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Columbus flood?

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

1paid claims since 1997

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Burke County.

Disasters that hit Columbus

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ColumbusDeclared for Burke County only

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ground Saturation

$2K to the City of Columbus for repairs

2004

Snow

$2K to the City of Columbus for repairs

1999

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

$7K to the City of Columbus for repairs

Burke County has had 20 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. Columbus 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 Columbus’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Columbus. 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.