Photo: North Dakota Department of Agriculture · Public domainStorms, floods and disasters in Souris
Souris isn’t graded for hazard risk: Souris has 38 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Souris faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Wildfire
Winter storms
Ice storms
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage); winter storms is FEMA’s “Winter Weather” (snow, sleet and freezing rain). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Souris flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Souris. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Souris isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Bottineau County.4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Souris
Disasters that paid out in Souris itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Souris), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2005Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ground Saturation$9K to the City of Souris for repairs
- 2004Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ground Saturation$13K to the City of Souris for repairs
- 2001Severe Storms, Flooding, and Ground Saturation$2K to the City of Souris for repairs
- 1999Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, and Tor$44K to the City of Souris for repairs
Bottineau County has had 25 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Souris after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Souris archive →Get ready for what Souris faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Ice brings down trees and lines: plan for days without power.
- Run a generator outside, far from doors and windows.
- Keep sand or salt by the door.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Souris
Is Souris in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Bottineau County, 14% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Souris?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Souris’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Souris?
By FEMA money that reached Souris, Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, and Tor (1999): $44K to the City of Souris for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Souris.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Souris’ residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.