Natural hazards · Willow Vale

Willow Vale, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Willow Vale 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 Willow Vale?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Willow Vale to be higher than in 6% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves38%Inland flooding21%Wildfire16%Winter weather7%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Willow Vale faces

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

Cold waves

38% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 23 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

16% of expected damage

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

Winter weather

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Willow Vale flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bottineau County.

Disasters that hit Willow Vale

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Willow ValeDeclared for Bottineau County only

Bottineau County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Willow Vale

Willow Vale and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Willow Valemostly cold wavesVery low

Oak Creekmostly cold wavesVery low

Ostbymostly cold wavesVery low

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