Natural hazards · Northwood

Northwood, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Northwood comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Northwood?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Northwood to be higher than in 20% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves40%Inland flooding25%Hail16%Tornadoes6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Northwood 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 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 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 Northwood flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Northwood 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 Northwood

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into NorthwoodDeclared for Grand Forks County only

2019

Flooding

$28K to the City of Northwood for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

14 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

265 households applied for aid $414K aid approved

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

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