Natural hazards · Kelso

Kelso, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kelso comes from hail, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1997.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Kelso?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kelso to be higher than in 28% of U.S. communities, mostly from hail and inland flooding.

Hail28%Inland flooding26%Cold waves23%Tornadoes9%Strong wind7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Kelso faces

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

Hail

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter 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 Kelso flood?

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

1paid claims since 1997

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Traill County.

Disasters that hit Kelso

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into KelsoDeclared for Traill County only

Traill County has had 30 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Kelso

Kelso and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Grandinmostly strong windsModerate

Kinyonmostly strong windsModerate

Kelsomostly hailLow

Elm Rivermostly hailLow

Hillsboromostly hailLow

Bohnsackmostly hailLow

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