Natural hazards · Forward

Forward, ND natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Forward to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves57%Inland flooding15%Hail9%Tornadoes6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Forward faces

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

Cold waves

57% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

15% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 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 Forward flood?

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

Disasters that hit Forward

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ForwardDeclared for Wells County only

Wells County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Forward

Forward and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Forwardmostly cold wavesLow

Westernmostly cold wavesLow

Manfredmostly cold wavesLow

Wellsmostly cold wavesLow

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