States › North Dakota › Hettinger County

Hettinger County, North Dakota

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 38041 · 2,430 residents (2021) · 1,132 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 164Tornado · 20Flood · 9Wind · 193Winter · 89

Hettinger County within North Dakota. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Hettinger County, North Dakota, has 535 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 47.3 events per 100 square miles, in line with the North Dakota figure of 48.3, and 2,201.6 per 10,000 residents against 430.4 statewide.

21 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 4 deaths and 7 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $15M and crop damage at $2.1M.

FEMA has designated the county in 19 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Flooding (major disaster, 5 Jul 2023).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 89 claims since 1978, of which 81 were paid, totalling $238K (about $3K per paid claim). FEMA counts 3 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($3.9M a year across 18 hazards).

21events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

535events since 19504 deaths, 7 injuries recorded

19disaster declarationslast 5 Jul 2023

89NFIP flood claims$238K paid

Compared with North Dakota and the United States

Measure	Hettinger County	North Dakota	US
Recorded events since 1950	535	33,350	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	47.3	48.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	2,201.6	430.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	21	1,019	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	4	100	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$15M	$5.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	36.6	17.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$3K	$24K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	0.0	4.5	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 1

Hail: 3Tornado: 2

Hail: 3Tornado: 5Wind: 9

Hail: 11Tornado: 1Wind: 16

Hail: 22Flood: 1Wind: 12Winter: 14Cold: 2Lightning: 1Other: 1

Hail: 35Tornado: 8Flood: 4Wind: 33Winter: 30Cold: 7Wildfire: 1

Hail: 67Tornado: 3Flood: 2Wind: 55Winter: 28Heat: 1Cold: 10Wildfire: 1Other: 8

Hail: 23Flood: 2Wind: 68Winter: 17Cold: 5Drought: 21Other: 2

11950s51960s171970s281980s531990s1182000s1752010s1382020s

Recorded events in Hettinger County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 352 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 133 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind193

Hail164

Winter89

Cold24

Drought21

Tornado20

Other11

Flood9

Wildfire2

Heat1

Lightning1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	193	—	2.0%	detail
■ Hail	164	—	1.6%	detail
■ Winter	89	1	1.4%	detail
■ Cold	24	—	0.9%
■ Drought	21	—	3.1%
■ Tornado	20	1	1.1%	detail
■ Other	11	—	1.6%
■ Flood	9	2	0.7%
■ Wildfire	2	—	5.6%
■ Heat	1	—	1.1%
■ Lightning	1	—	0.9%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
1 May 2022	Flood	Flood	—	$30K	—	2	—	County
29 Jun 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$2.5M	—	1	4	County
30 Apr 2011	Blizzard	Winter	—	$35K	—	1	1	Forecast zone
19 Mar 2012	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$300K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
24 Jan 2010	Blizzard	Winter	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
12 Jul 2019	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$1.6M	—	—	—	County
9 Jan 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
4 Apr 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
13 Jul 2010	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$750K	$500K	—	—	County
13 Jul 2010	Hail	Hail	4.25 in	$400K	$500K	—	—	County
21 Mar 1997	Flood	Flood	—	$860K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
4 Oct 2013	Heavy Snow	Winter	—	$471K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
12 Aug 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	92 mph	$150K	$200K	—	—	County
17 Jun 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	$250K	$100K	—	—	County
22 Aug 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
4 Jan 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$250K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
21 Jun 2016	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$200K	$30K	—	—	County
13 Jul 2010	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	$100K	$100K	—	—	County
21 Jun 2016	Hail	Hail	2.50 in	$150K	$50K	—	—	County
13 Jan 2021	High Wind	Wind	92 mph	$200K	—	—	—	Forecast zone

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
5 Jul 2023	DR-4717	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
13 Jul 2022	DR-4660	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Flooding	Public assistance
1 Apr 2020	DR-4509	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3477	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
12 Jun 2019	DR-4444	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
31 Oct 2013	DR-4154	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
26 Feb 2010	DR-1879	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
24 Mar 2009	DR-1829	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Sep 2005	EM-3247	Emergency	Coastal Storm	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
7 Apr 1997	DR-1174	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Flooding,Severe Winter Storms, Snowmelt, Spring Rains	Individual assistance, Public assistance
12 Jan 1997	DR-1157	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Blizzard Conditions	Public assistance
1 Jul 1994	DR-1032	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding	Public assistance
26 Jul 1993	DR-1001	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 May 1982	DR-658	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
17 Apr 1978	DR-554	Major disaster	Flood	Storms, Ice Jams, Snowmelt & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
16 Feb 1978	EM-3061	Emergency	Snowstorm	Blizzard & Snowstorms	Public assistance
11 Jul 1975	DR-475	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Jun 1970	DR-287	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Jul 1966	DR-220	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Hettinger County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197889

Paid claims81

Total paid$238K

Average paid claim$3K

Repetitive-loss properties20 severe

Residential policies in force30.2% of 1,382 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2009	2	2	$6,880	$3,440
1997	10	9	$68,058	$7,562
1984	1	0	$0	—
1982	20	17	$24,198	$1,423
1979	3	2	$1,654	$827
1978	53	51	$137,163	$2,689

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 9.2 of 100

Expected annual loss$3.9MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very Low	$1,110,472
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$972,259
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$746,971
Tornado	Very Low	$319,914
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$225,780
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$200,954
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$196,679
Wildfire	Very Low	$54,954
Earthquake	Very Low	$29,750
Lightning	Very Low	$28,993
Drought	Very Low	$12,090
Heat wave	Very Low	$10,830
Landslide	Very Low	$30

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

No HURDAT2 track at tropical-storm strength passes within 100 miles of the county's centre point (through the 2025 season).

ZIP codes with flood claims

58646 92

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Hettinger County, ND?

NCEI records 164 hail events in Hettinger County since 1950, in 43 different years; that is about 2.1 recorded events a year. 59 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Hettinger County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 20 tornadoes in Hettinger County since 1950, 2 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 1.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Hettinger County?

5 Jul 2023: Flooding, a major disaster declaration for flood. The county appears in 19 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Hettinger County, and how much was paid?

89 NFIP claims since 1978, 81 of them paid, for $238K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Hettinger County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Moderate" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Hettinger County compare with the rest of North Dakota?

47.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 48.3 statewide, and 36.6 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 17.2. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.