Natural hazards · Durham

Durham, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Durham 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 Durham?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Durham to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves44%Inland flooding16%Hail15%Tornadoes8%Strong wind6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Durham faces

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

Cold waves

44% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 6% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Durham flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stutsman County.

Disasters that hit Durham

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into DurhamDeclared for Stutsman County only

Stutsman County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Durham

Durham and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Durhammostly cold wavesLow

Courtenaymostly cold wavesLow

Lyonmostly cold wavesLow

Nogosekmostly cold wavesLow

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