Natural hazards · Lewis

Lewis, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lewis comes from cold waves, 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 Lewis?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lewis to be higher than in 1% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves42%Inland flooding22%Winter weather8%Tornadoes7%Wildfire7%Ice storms5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Lewis 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

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 23 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Winter weather

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Wildfire

7% of expected damage

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

Ice storms

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HailHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Lewis flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bottineau County.

Disasters that hit Lewis

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LewisDeclared for Bottineau County only

Bottineau County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Lewis

Lewis and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lewismostly cold wavesVery low

Mount Rosemostly cold wavesVery low

Chatfieldmostly cold wavesVery low

Newborgmostly cold wavesVery low

Hastingsmostly cold wavesVery low

Maxbassmostly cold wavesVery 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. Lewis 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 Lewis’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Lewis. 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.