Natural hazards · Golden Lake

Golden Lake, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Golden Lake 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 Golden Lake?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Golden Lake to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from strong winds and cold waves.

Strong wind34%Cold waves22%Hail18%Inland flooding12%Ice storms6%Tornadoes5%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Golden Lake 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 · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Hail

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 7% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 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 Golden Lake flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Steele County.

Disasters that hit Golden Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Golden LakeDeclared for Steele County only

Steele County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Golden Lake

Golden Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Golden Lakemostly strong windsModerate

Finleymostly strong windsModerate

Beaver Creekmostly strong windsModerate

Engermostly strong windsModerate

Sherbrookemostly strong windsModerate

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