Natural hazards · Washburn

Washburn, ND natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Washburn?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Washburn to be higher than in 76% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and strong winds.

Cold waves33%Strong wind20%Hail18%Inland flooding10%Ice storms9%Tornadoes5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Washburn 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 21 times a year in the area

Strong wind

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

10% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Ice storms

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Winter 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 Washburn flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Griggs County.

Disasters that hit Washburn

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WashburnDeclared for Griggs County only

Griggs County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Washburn

Washburn and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Washburnmostly cold wavesHigh

Sverdrupmostly cold wavesHigh

Romnessmostly cold wavesHigh

Cooperstownmostly cold wavesHigh

Greenviewmostly strong windsModerate

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