Natural hazards · St. Joseph

St. Joseph, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Joseph comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1997.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Joseph?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding43%Cold waves33%Everything else24%

By hazard

What St. Joseph faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

33% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 23 times a year 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 St. Joseph flood?

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

10paid claims since 1997

$66Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pembina County.

Disasters that hit St. Joseph

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Pembina County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching St. Joseph itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into St. JosephDeclared for Pembina County only

Pembina County has had 32 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around St. Joseph

St. Joseph and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

St. Josephmostly inland floodingModerate

Felsonmostly inland floodingModerate

Walhallamostly inland floodingModerate

Advancemostly inland floodingModerate

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. St. Joseph covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to St. Joseph’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of St. Joseph. 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 St. Joseph total about $1.2M 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.