Natural hazards · Kern

Kern, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kern comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Kern?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kern to be higher than in 12% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding26%Cold waves25%Hail19%Tornadoes8%Ice storms6%Winter weather6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Kern faces

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

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Hail

19% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Winter weather

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Lower here

Heat 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 Kern flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hettinger County.

Disasters that hit Kern

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into KernDeclared for Hettinger County only

Hettinger County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Kern

Kern and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Kernmostly inland floodingVery low

Merrillmostly inland floodingVery low

Ashbymostly inland floodingVery low

Castle Rockmostly inland floodingVery low

Brittianmostly inland floodingVery low

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