Counties with the most emergency shelters in North Dakota

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January 20, 2023
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Counties with the most emergency shelters in North Dakota

As climate change drives weather to greater extremes, and devastating hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and blizzards preoccupy an increasing number of Americans, it is hard to avoid comparing the reality of everyday news coverage to the computer-generated images seen in disaster movies.

Over the last 50 years, natural disasters have become five times more common due to climate change, according to the World Meteorological Organization. They've also become more economically debilitating—the five most expensive climate disasters in American history have all taken place over the last two decades.

The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters means that the need for emergency evacuation and shelter plans has never been greater. According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, understanding your climate risk, or proximity to probable natural disaster, is an important first step for making a plan. Tools like the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation allow you to assess your risk by location.

Knowing where nearby emergency shelters are located is another way to prepare for the worst. In the event of flooding, hurricane-level winds, or other disasters, emergency shelters offer a place to sleep, and also often provide food, water, and first aid services. Stacker examined the Department of Homeland Security's National Shelter System Facilities database to identify the counties with the most emergency shelters in North Dakota. Counties are ranked by emergency shelters per 100K people, with total capacity per 100K people serving as a tiebreaker.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the total emergency shelter capacity in each county. Due to the variable availability of that data for each shelter, the data point has been removed from the updated version.

#50. Rolette County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 8.0 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#49. Mountrail County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 10.3 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#48. Ramsey County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 17.2 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#47. Williams County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 20.8 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#46. McKenzie County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 21.8 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#45. Grand Forks County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 21.9 (16 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#44. Sioux County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 25.0 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#43. Cass County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 29.5 (54 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 9
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#42. Benson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 32.8 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#41. Ransom County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 35.2 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#40. Stark County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 39.7 (13 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#39. Burleigh County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 39.8 (39 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 9
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#38. Dickey County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 39.9 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#37. Kidder County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 41.7 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#36. Eddy County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 42.1 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#35. Adams County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 44.7 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#34. Morton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 45.6 (15 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#33. Ward County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 45.9 (32 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#32. Bottineau County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 46.6 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#31. McLean County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 51.1 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#30. Steele County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 53.5 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#29. Golden Valley County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 55.2 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#28. Richland County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 72.5 (12 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2

#27. Pierce County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 74.3 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#26. Cavalier County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 80.5 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#25. Grant County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 85.1 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#24. Traill County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 87.4 (7 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2

#23. Foster County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 88.3 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#22. Griggs County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 89.2 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#21. Emmons County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 90.5 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#20. Burke County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 91.9 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#19. McHenry County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 92.3 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#18. Walsh County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 103.5 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3

#17. Sargent County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 104.2 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#16. McIntosh County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 116.8 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#15. Billings County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 119.2 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#14. Barnes County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 119.6 (13 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#13. Wells County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 124.0 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#12. Slope County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 129.0 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#11. Mercer County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 130.9 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#10. Stutsman County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 133.8 (29 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#9. Nelson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 164.7 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#8. Logan County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 165.4 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#7. Divide County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 182.1 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#6. Towner County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 182.6 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#5. Renville County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 214.8 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#4. Sheridan County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 225.9 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#3. Pembina County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 231.5 (16 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3

#2. Bowman County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 264.6 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#1. LaMoure County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 335.5 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

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