Natural hazards · Empire

Empire, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Empire comes from strong winds, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Empire?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Empire to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from strong winds and hail.

Strong wind34%Hail20%Cold waves19%Inland flooding18%Tornadoes6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Empire faces

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

Strong wind

34% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years 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 Empire flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cass County.

Disasters that hit Empire

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into EmpireDeclared for Cass County only

Cass County has had 30 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Empire

Empire and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ameniamostly inland floodingModerate

Empiremostly strong windsModerate

Eriemostly strong windsModerate

Ayrmostly strong windsLow

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