Natural hazards · Sanborn

Sanborn, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sanborn 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 Sanborn?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sanborn to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves43%Inland flooding19%Hail12%Strong wind11%Tornadoes7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Sanborn faces

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

Cold waves

43% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% 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 Sanborn flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Sanborn 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 Sanborn

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SanbornDeclared for Barnes County only

2011

Flooding

3 households applied for aid $539 aid approved

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

23 households applied for aid $11K aid approved $13K to the City of Sanborn for repairs

2001

Severe Storms, Flooding, & Ground Saturation

$1K to the City of Sanborn for repairs

1999

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

$11K to the City of Sanborn for repairs

Barnes County has had 30 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. Sanborn 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 Sanborn’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sanborn. 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.