Natural hazards · Oakes

Oakes, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oakes comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1997. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Oakes?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oakes to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves54%Inland flooding17%Hail8%Strong wind7%Tornadoes6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Oakes faces

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

Cold waves

54% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

17% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Oakes flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Oakes, from FEMA’s records.

1paid claims since 1997

$20Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Oakes

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OakesDeclared for Dickey County only

2011

Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

22 households applied for aid $24K aid approved $26K to the City of Oakes for repairs

2001

Severe Storms, Flooding, & Ground Saturation

$6K to the City of Oakes for repairs

1999

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

$11K to the City of Oakes for repairs

Dickey County has had 28 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. Oakes 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 Oakes’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Oakes. 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.