Natural hazards · Sheldon

Sheldon, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sheldon comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Sheldon?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sheldon to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves42%Inland flooding21%Strong wind11%Hail9%Tornadoes7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Sheldon faces

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

Cold waves

42% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 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 Sheldon flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ransom County.

Disasters that hit Sheldon

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SheldonDeclared for Ransom County only

2011

Flooding

$44K to the City of Sheldon for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

17 households applied for aid $20K aid approved

1999

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

$4K to the City of Sheldon for repairs

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