South Dakota Natural Disasters

NOAA storm events & FEMA National Risk Index

NOAA's Storm Events Database adds the near-term severe-weather lens. Between 2015 and 2025, South Dakota recorded 22,759 individual storm events, causing 67 fatalities and 148 injuries, with combined property and crop damage estimated at $2.0B. The most frequent event types in the state are Thunderstorm Wind (5,388 events), Hail (4,801 events), High Wind (2,277 events). Across the 65counties FEMA scores here, its National Risk Index flags 0 as high-risk, with an average county Risk Index score (FEMA's own formula, distinct from our Historical Activity tool below) of 26.5/100.

What this count is, and is not. Storm Events is a reported database: NOAA compiles it from National Weather Service offices, trained spotters, law enforcement, and the public. It is a record of what was observed and logged, not a complete census of severe weather. Densely populated areas report more events than sparsely populated ones with similar meteorological exposure, and detection has improved over time, so an event count is not a like-for-like measure of hazard between places or across decades. Damage figures are field estimates, not audited losses. See methodology.

FEMA disaster declarations

South Dakota (SD) has a moderate level of federal declaration activity, with 96 FEMA declaration records, including 63 Major Disaster declarations (DR). A DR may authorize Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both; those program approvals are not implied by the DR count. The dominant declaration type is Severe Storm, followed by Fire (27), Flood (21), Biological (5). Declaration counts at the state level reflect the cumulative federal footprint: large multi-county events count once per state, but repeat hazard patterns across decades are visible in the breakdown below.

Flood exposure & where to dig deeper

Flood exposure is quantified separately through the National Flood Insurance Program. Policyholders across 52South Dakota counties have filed 3,963 NFIP claims totaling $62.3M, or an average of $15.7K per claim. NFIP data captures only insured flood losses, so uninsured flood damage and storm-surge losses outside mapped high-risk zones remain invisible in this figure. The highest-Expected-Annual-Loss hazard across the state is Riverine Flooding, estimated at $0.3B annually. Drill into individual counties for localized risk, read FEMA's hazard-specific briefings, and review insurance and flood-zone designations, state-level averages can mask sharp county-to-county differences in exposure and resilience.