Natural hazards · McKenzie

McKenzie, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in McKenzie comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is McKenzie?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in McKenzie to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves31%Inland flooding25%Hail23%Tornadoes8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What McKenzie faces

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

Cold waves

31% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 McKenzie flood?

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

4paid claims since 1979

$10Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 1 claim, $1K
Winter storm: 1 claim, $803

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Burleigh County.

Disasters that hit McKenzie

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into McKenzieDeclared for Burleigh County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $18K aid approved

Burleigh County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around McKenzie

McKenzie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

McKenziemostly cold wavesHigh

Menokenmostly cold wavesHigh

Sibley Buttemostly cold wavesHigh

Loganmostly cold wavesHigh

Sterlingmostly cold wavesHigh

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. McKenzie covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to McKenzie’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of McKenzie. 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 McKenzie total about $2.8M 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.