Natural hazards · Northwest

Northwest, ND natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Northwest?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Northwest to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and hail.

Cold waves50%Hail16%Inland flooding13%Strong wind10%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Northwest faces

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

Cold waves

50% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Hail

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

13% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce 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 Northwest flood?

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

Disasters that hit Northwest

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into NorthwestDeclared for Dickey County only

Dickey County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Northwest

Northwest and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Roloffmostly cold wavesModerate

Northwestmostly cold wavesLow

Germanmostly cold wavesLow

Youngmostly cold wavesLow

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