Natural hazards · Merkel

Merkel, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Merkel comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Merkel?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Merkel to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves41%Inland flooding20%Hail13%Strong wind10%Tornadoes7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Merkel faces

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

Cold waves

41% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years 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 Merkel flood?

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

Disasters that hit Merkel

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MerkelDeclared for Kidder County only

Kidder County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Merkel

Merkel and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Merkelmostly cold wavesHigh

Robinsonmostly cold wavesHigh

Wallacemostly cold wavesHigh

Stewartmostly cold wavesHigh

Atwoodmostly cold wavesHigh

Frettimmostly cold wavesHigh

Lake Williamsmostly cold wavesHigh

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