Natural hazards · Estherville

Estherville, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Estherville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Estherville?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Estherville to be higher than in 79% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding36%Hail26%Cold waves23%Tornadoes6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Estherville faces

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

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

26% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Estherville flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Burleigh County.

Disasters that hit Estherville

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into EsthervilleDeclared for Burleigh County only

Burleigh County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Estherville

Estherville and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Esthervillemostly inland floodingHigh

Grass Lakemostly inland floodingHigh

Reganmostly inland floodingHigh

Ghylinmostly inland floodingHigh

Canfieldmostly inland floodingHigh

Schrunk-Steibermostly inland floodingHigh

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