Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in North Dakota

North Dakota has 1,372 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 53 counties. The dominant hazard type is flood. Walsh County leads with 41 declarations, followed by Grand Forks County and Pembina County.

This ranking shows every county in North Dakota ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.

Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.

North Dakota ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Walsh County41Flood19652023
2Grand Forks County38Flood19652025
3Pembina County38Flood19652023
4Richland County37Flood19652024
5Ransom County36Flood19652025
6Traill County36Flood19652025
7Barnes County35Flood19652025
8Cass County35Flood19652025
9LaMoure County33Flood19662024
10Nelson County33Flood19652025
11Dickey County32Flood19662024
12McHenry County32Flood19662023
13Sargent County32Flood19662024
14Benson County31Flood19692020
15Steele County31Flood19652025
16Stutsman County31Flood19662025
17Ramsey County29Flood19662022
18Wells County29Flood19692025
19Towner County28Flood19692023
20Ward County28Flood19692022
21Bottineau County27Flood19692022
22Grant County27Severe Storm19662025
23Morton County27Flood19662025
24Mountrail County27Flood19692023
25Cavalier County26Severe Storm19692022
26Emmons County26Flood19692025
27Kidder County26Severe Storm19762025
28Logan County26Flood19692024
29Renville County25Flood19692022
30Rolette County25Flood19692022
31Eddy County24Flood19692025
32McKenzie County24Severe Storm19692024
33McLean County24Severe Storm19662025
34Mercer County24Flood19662023
35Foster County23Flood19692025
36Griggs County23Severe Storm19662025
37Pierce County23Flood19692020
38Burleigh County22Flood19692025
39Sheridan County22Severe Storm19692025
40Sioux County22Severe Storm19692025
41Burke County21Flood19692023
42McIntosh County21Severe Storm19692024
43Oliver County21Severe Storm19662025
44Hettinger County19Flood19662023
45Williams County19Flood19692024
46Dunn County18Severe Storm19692023
47Divide County16Flood19692022
48Stark County16Flood19662020
49Adams County15Severe Storm19782022
50Bowman County13Severe Storm19782020
51Golden Valley County13Flood19782023
52Billings County12Severe Storm19782022
53Slope County10Severe Storm19782020