Natural hazards · Fort Ransom

Fort Ransom, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fort Ransom comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fort Ransom?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fort Ransom to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves36%Inland flooding22%Strong wind14%Hail12%Ice storms7%Tornadoes5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Fort Ransom 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

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Ice storms

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Lower here

Winter 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 Fort Ransom flood?

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

11paid claims since 1979

$59Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 2 claims, $11K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ransom County.

Disasters that hit Fort Ransom

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Fort RansomDeclared for Ransom County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

22 households applied for aid $14K aid approved

Ransom County has had 32 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. Fort Ransom 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 Fort Ransom’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Fort Ransom. 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.