8 flood insurance claims·$134,976 paid·15 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Steele County, North Dakota. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
General flooding and flash flooding from summer thunderstorms and snowmelt dominate the flood risk profile in Steele County, supported by 16 flood events and 12 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Historical events illustrate these hazards. An April 2019 event demonstrated flooding driven by lingering winter snowpacks and subsequent spring snowmelt affecting low-lying areas and roads. Additionally, an August 2011 event brought severe, slow-moving thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall to the area, impacting communities like Hope with both strong winds and heavy rain.
Properties in FEMA-designated Zone X and Zone D should pay the most attention to this risk. NFIP records show 6 claims in Zone X with an average payout of $31,142 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches, alongside 2 claims in Zone D with an average payout of $5,203 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
The worst year was 2004, with 5 claims and $124,570 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ground Saturation.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
11 NOAA storm reports from Steele County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Dakota flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 15 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Aug 7, 2025 |
| Severe Storm, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Jun 20, 2025 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Dec 25, 2023 |
| Flooding | Apr 10, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Apr 22, 2022 |
| Flooding | Apr 1, 2020 |
| Flooding | Mar 21, 2019 |
| Flooding | Feb 14, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 12 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 20, 2019 | $250,000 |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Apr 10, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Aug 1, 2011 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2011 | $25,000 |
| Flood | May 25, 2010 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2010 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Mar 18, 2010 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 20, 2019. By the late afternoon of the 20th, a weak area of surface low pressure set up near Devils Lake, with the warm front extending out to the east-southeast. Temperatures had risen into the mid 70s to low 80s in the warm sector, with dew points in the upper 60s to lower 70s. To the southwest of the low, a cold front extended back toward Bismarck. Just before 5 pm CDT, a fairly solid line of thunderstorms developed alon…
Flood · Apr 4, 2019. The winter snow melted first on the Minnesota side of the southern Red River Valley. Visible satellite imagery confirmed this fact, showing a distinct snow free north to south band that extended roughly 20 or so miles east of the Red River from Grant to Wilkin to Clay counties. In Fargo, the snow depth fell to zero on April 6th. However, a blizzard from April 10th to 12th brought more snow to the area. This snow f…
Flood · Apr 10, 2011. The winter of 2010-2011 generally brought above normal amounts of snow to the area, but particularly so for the Devils Lake basin, the Sheyenne River basin, and the Wild Rice River basin. By April 1st, snow water equivalents were estimated to be about four to six inches in these areas with about two to four inches elsewhere. A see-saw pattern of temperatures led to a generally slow April snowmelt. At Fargo, the fi…
Flood · Aug 1, 2011. This episode began late in the evening of July 31st and continued into the early morning hours of August 1st, as severe thunderstorms from central North Dakota moved into eastern North Dakota. Many of these storms showed a bow structure, or a structure indicative of strong winds. The storms were also slow movers and several rounds of them tracked over the same area. Hope, ND, was hit by both strong winds and very…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Steele County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.