Natural hazards · Smoky Butte

Smoky Butte, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Smoky Butte comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Smoky Butte?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Smoky Butte to be higher than in 0% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves34%Inland flooding27%Hail10%Winter weather8%Tornadoes7%Ice storms6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Smoky Butte faces

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

Cold waves

34% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Winter weather

8% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Heat 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 Smoky Butte flood?

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

Disasters that hit Smoky Butte

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Divide County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Smoky Butte itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Smoky ButteDeclared for Divide County only

Divide County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Smoky Butte

Smoky Butte and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Blue Ridgemostly cold wavesVery low

Smoky Buttemostly cold wavesVery low

Garnetmostly cold wavesVery low

Sioux Trailmostly cold wavesVery low

Burgmostly cold wavesVery low

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. Smoky 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 Smoky Butte’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Smoky 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.