Natural hazards · Nelson

Nelson, ND natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Nelson?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Nelson to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves43%Inland flooding19%Hail12%Strong wind11%Tornadoes7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Nelson faces

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

Cold waves

43% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% 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 Nelson flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Barnes County.

Disasters that hit Nelson

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into NelsonDeclared for Barnes County only

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

Around Nelson

Nelson and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Marshmostly cold wavesModerate

Normamostly cold wavesModerate

Nelsonmostly cold wavesModerate

Skandiamostly cold wavesModerate

Oakhillmostly cold wavesModerate

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