782 flood insurance claims·$3.1M paid·26 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 Walsh 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.
River and general flooding dominates Walsh County, accounting for 39 recorded events and 1 death over the last 30 years, alongside 17 flash flood events. Historical records show this flood risk is heavily driven by seasonal conditions, such as spring snowmelt flooding along tributaries that began in April and persisted into early May 2023. Flash flooding also occurs during the summer months, such as an event on July 4, 2020, when slow-moving thunderstorms dropped heavy rain over saturated ground in the northern Red River Valley.
Property owners and real estate professionals should pay the closest attention to areas categorized under FEMA Zone UNKNOWN and Zone A. Zone UNKNOWN accounts for the highest claim volume with 405 claims averaging a $3,630 payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone A follows closely with 348 claims, which carried a higher average payout of $6,185 and a significantly greater average recorded water depth of 10 inches. While Zone D recorded only 5 claims, it logged the highest average payout at $17,400 with an average recorded water depth of 6 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Walsh County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
352 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 5 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1979, with 362 claims and $1.2M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Snowmelt & Flooding.
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.
12 NOAA storm reports from Walsh County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Dakota flood stories →
41 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 26 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Flooding | Apr 10, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Apr 22, 2022 |
| Flooding | Apr 1, 2020 |
| Flooding | Oct 9, 2019 |
| Flooding | Mar 21, 2019 |
| Flooding | Mar 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 17, 2013 |
| Flooding | Apr 22, 2013 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
56 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 39 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 18, 2023 | $1.0M |
| Flood | Apr 16, 2023 | $1.0M |
| Flood | May 1, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Apr 18, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2016 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jul 5, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Apr 9, 2014 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 18, 2023. Spring snowmelt flooding began in mid to late April in most locations, then persisted into early May.
Flood · Apr 16, 2023. Snowmelt flooding along the North Dakota Tributaries began in early to mid-April, with a few locations persisting into early May.
Flood · May 1, 2023. The spring snowmelt flooding began in late April 2023 and persisted into the early portions of May for some locations.
Flash Flood · Jul 4, 2020. A cluster of thunderstorms formed over the northern Red River Valley during the early morning hours of Saturday, July 4th. A couple of the individual storm cells became fairly strong, but the main hazard shifted to heavy rain. The storms were slow moving, but kept back-building, which led to some areas picking up very heavy rainfall. The northern Valley into extreme northwest Minnesota was already saturated from h…
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 Walsh 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.