Natural hazards · Jamestown

Jamestown, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Jamestown comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 64 claims here since 1993. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Jamestown?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Jamestown to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves42%Inland flooding26%Hail8%Tornadoes7%Winter weather7%Strong wind5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Jamestown faces

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

Cold waves

42% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Winter weather

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 23 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsHeat 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 Jamestown flood?

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

64paid claims since 1993

$304Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19932026

Biggest named events

Late spring storms: 2 claims, $5K

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. Jamestown isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Stutsman County.

Disasters that hit Jamestown

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into JamestownDeclared for Stutsman County only

2025

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

$80K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

2025

Severe Storm, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

$343K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

2020

Flooding

$50K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

2019

Flooding

$132K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

2011

Flooding

$532K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

2010

Flooding

$554K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

467 households applied for aid $333K aid approved $3.0M to the City of Jamestown for repairs

2001

Severe Storms, Flooding, & Ground Saturation

$37K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

1999

Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, and Tor

$30K to the City of Jamestown for repairs

Stutsman County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Jamestown

Jamestown and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Jamestownmostly cold wavesModerate

Midwaymostly cold wavesModerate

Woodburymostly cold wavesLow

Homermostly cold wavesLow

Bloommostly 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. Jamestown covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Jamestown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Jamestown. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Jamestown total about $5.6M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.