Granville is calmer than 86% of U.S. communities
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Granville comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Granville’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Granville?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 14% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and cold waves.
Calmer than 1,353 of the 1,711 North Dakota towns we cover.
Granville is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Granville faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
Cold waves
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Winter weather
Ice storms
Does Granville flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Granville. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Granville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: McHenry County.5 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Granville
Disasters that paid out in Granville itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Granville) and its biggest flood years.
- 2011Flooding26 households applied for aid$34K aid approved
- 2009Severe Storms and Flooding6 households applied for aid$7K aid approved
- 2005Severe Winter Storm and Record And/Or Near Record Snow$2K to the City of Granville for repairs
- 2004Snow$1K to the City of Granville for repairs
- 1999Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, and Tor$35K to the City of Granville for repairs
McHenry County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Old photos of Granville after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Granville archive →Get ready for what Granville actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in February–April
The month each of McHenry County’s 29 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Granville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Granville.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Granville.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.