Natural hazards · Sentinel Butte

Sentinel Butte, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sentinel Butte comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sentinel Butte?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sentinel Butte to be higher than in 27% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves.

Cold waves76%Inland flooding9%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Sentinel Butte faces

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

Cold waves

76% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

9% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Sentinel Butte flood?

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

Disasters that hit Sentinel Butte

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Sentinel ButteDeclared for Golden Valley County only

2005

Severe Winter Storm and Record And/Or Near Record Snow

$1K to the City of Sentinel Butte for repairs

Golden Valley County has had 11 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. Sentinel Butte 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 Sentinel Butte’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sentinel Butte. 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.