Natural hazards · Turtle Lake

Turtle Lake, ND natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Turtle Lake to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves33%Inland flooding30%Hail11%Tornadoes8%Strong wind6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Turtle Lake faces

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

Cold waves

33% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year 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 Turtle Lake flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McLean County.

Disasters that hit Turtle Lake

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Turtle LakeDeclared for McLean County only

2011

Flooding

$4K to the City of Turtle Lake for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

23 households applied for aid $47K aid approved

1999

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

$3K to the City of Turtle Lake for repairs

McLean County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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