Natural hazards · Watson

Watson, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Watson comes from strong winds, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Watson?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Watson to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from strong winds and hail.

Strong wind36%Hail21%Cold waves20%Inland flooding13%Tornadoes6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Watson faces

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

Strong wind

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

13% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 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 Watson flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cass County.

Disasters that hit Watson

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WatsonDeclared for Cass County only

Cass County has had 30 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Watson

Watson and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Leonardmostly inland floodingHigh

Watsonmostly strong windsLow

Walburgmostly strong windsLow

Highlandmostly strong windsLow

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