Natural hazards · Nome

Nome, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Nome comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Nome?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Nome to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves40%Inland flooding21%Strong wind13%Hail13%Tornadoes6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Nome faces

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

Cold waves

40% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% 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 Nome flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Nome 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 Nome

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into NomeDeclared for Barnes County only

2011

Flooding

4 households applied for aid $18K aid approved

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2001

Severe Storms, Flooding, & Ground Saturation

$2K to the City of Nome for repairs

1999

Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, and Tor

$3K to the City of Nome for repairs

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

Around Nome

Nome and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Nomemostly cold wavesModerate

Thordenskjoldmostly cold wavesModerate

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