Natural hazards · Niagara

Niagara, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Niagara comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Niagara?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Niagara to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding39%Cold waves28%Hail13%Tornadoes7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Niagara faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

28% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 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 Niagara flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Grand Forks County.

Disasters that hit Niagara

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into NiagaraDeclared for Grand Forks County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

Grand Forks County has had 32 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Niagara

Niagara and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Niagaramostly inland floodingLow

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