Natural hazards · Wiser

Wiser, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wiser comes from strong winds, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 33 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wiser?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wiser to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from strong winds and hail.

Strong wind34%Hail20%Cold waves19%Inland flooding18%Tornadoes6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Wiser faces

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

Strong wind

34% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% 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 Wiser flood?

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

33paid claims since 1979

$309Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Not a named storm: 2 claims, $20K
Severe flooding: 2 claims, $9K
Late spring storms: 1 claim, $4K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Wiser 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 Wiser

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WiserDeclared for Cass County only

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

Around Wiser

Wiser and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Georgetownmostly inland floodingVery high

Kragnesmostly inland floodingVery high

Harwoodmostly inland floodingHigh

Wisermostly strong windsModerate

Gardnermostly strong windsModerate

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