Natural hazards · Prairie Centre

Prairie Centre, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Prairie Centre comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Prairie Centre?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Prairie Centre to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding37%Cold waves26%Tornadoes10%Hail9%Ice storms6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Prairie Centre faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

26% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Lower here

Winter 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 Prairie Centre flood?

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

12paid claims since 1979

$60Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 1 claim, $2K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Walsh County.

Disasters that hit Prairie Centre

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Prairie CentreDeclared for Walsh County only

Walsh County has had 34 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Prairie Centre

Prairie Centre and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prairie Centremostly inland floodingLow

Walsh Centremostly inland floodingLow

Rushfordmostly inland floodingLow

Opsmostly 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. Prairie Centre covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Prairie Centre’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Prairie Centre. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Prairie Centre total about $3.4M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.