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South Dakota

The recorded hazard history of every county in South Dakota: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

South Dakota has 55,877 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 66 counties, led by damaging wind: 73.7 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 147 deaths and 999 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $1.1B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Minnehaha, Davison and Union.

FEMA lists 98 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding (1 Sep 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 4,016 flood claims since 1978, $63M paid; 2,011 residential policies are in force.

2,303events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

55,877events since 195073.7 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

98disaster declarations since 1953last 1 Sep 2026

4,016NFIP flood claims$63M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	South Dakota	US
Recorded events since 1950	55,877	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	73.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	624.1	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	147	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$1.1B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	4.5	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$21K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	2,011	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind18,009

Hail17,011

Winter10,128

Flood3,390

Drought2,012

Cold1,993

Tornado1,947

Heat877

Other277

Lightning127

Wildfire84

Fog22

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	18,009	2.6%	16
■ Hail	17,011	4.0%	—
■ Winter	10,128	3.5%	73
■ Flood	3,390	1.8%	10
■ Drought	2,012	2.4%	—
■ Cold	1,993	3.7%	12
■ Tornado	1,947	2.4%	19
■ Heat	877	1.6%	2
■ Other	277	0.6%	1
■ Lightning	127	0.7%	5
■ Wildfire	84	0.9%	1
■ Fog	22	0.1%	8

Events by decade

Hail: 106Tornado: 94Wind: 92

Hail: 237Tornado: 276Wind: 198

Hail: 310Tornado: 275Wind: 408

Hail: 801Tornado: 305Wind: 867

Hail: 1823Tornado: 305Flood: 278Wind: 1633Winter: 1163Cold: 123Drought: 48Wildfire: 4Lightning: 33Fog: 6Other: 21

Hail: 6234Tornado: 339Flood: 549Wind: 3783Winter: 2646Heat: 72Cold: 171Drought: 254Wildfire: 46Lightning: 68Fog: 2Other: 58

Hail: 4866Tornado: 216Flood: 1922Wind: 5194Winter: 3972Heat: 335Cold: 869Drought: 587Wildfire: 7Lightning: 21Fog: 4Other: 128

Hail: 2634Tornado: 137Flood: 641Wind: 5834Winter: 2347Heat: 470Cold: 830Drought: 1123Wildfire: 27Lightning: 5Fog: 10Other: 70

2921950s7111960s9931970s1,9731980s5,4371990s14,2222000s18,1212010s14,1282020s

Recorded events in South Dakota by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Minnehaha County	1,554	75	192.6	77.8	Hail	48	504	17	425	Relatively Moderate
Davison County	808	32	185.5	406.5	Wind	24	166	15	30	Very Low
Union County	834	36	181.0	494.3	Wind	24	160	19	443	Very Low
Clay County	708	31	171.8	467.3	Hail	31	177	19	13	Very Low
Yankton County	878	34	168.5	376.9	Hail	29	256	16	62	Relatively Low
Lincoln County	959	60	166.1	141.3	Wind	61	205	17	39	Relatively Low
Bon Homme County	812	38	144.1	1,157.7	Hail	26	229	32	2	Very Low
Hanson County	566	27	130.2	1,614.8	Winter	18	92	25	10	Very Low
McCook County	745	41	129.7	1,308.2	Hail	42	194	21	29	Relatively Low
Turner County	787	47	127.5	903.8	Hail	45	202	26	26	Very Low
Douglas County	547	30	126.7	1,939.0	Winter	25	97	18	1	Very Low
Moody County	657	27	126.5	1,040.4	Winter	10	123	21	59	Very Low
Hamlin County	634	32	125.0	1,013.6	Hail	23	194	22	347	Very Low
Lake County	664	22	118.0	611.9	Winter	24	150	20	291	Very Low
Sanborn County	649	34	114.0	2,729.2	Winter	22	129	22	11	Very Low
Codington County	782	49	113.7	275.1	Hail	35	225	23	472	Relatively Low
Hughes County	801	36	108.0	452.7	Wind	12	211	21	88	Very Low
Brookings County	844	45	106.5	243.7	Wind	32	164	21	143	Relatively Low
Hutchinson County	832	55	102.3	1,122.7	Wind	45	198	24	14	Relatively Low
Jerauld County	529	27	100.5	3,233.5	Winter	14	122	21	0	Very Low
Miner County	537	25	94.2	2,320.7	Winter	35	111	20	0	Very Low
Walworth County	663	37	93.7	1,263.3	Wind	28	178	12	0	Very Low
Aurora County	645	41	91.0	2,347.2	Wind	16	152	23	2	Very Low
Lawrence County	708	12	88.5	270.6	Hail	20	537	17	38	Relatively Low
Buffalo County	416	22	88.2	2,163.3	Wind	15	82	22	0	Very Low
Pennington County	2,429	67	87.5	217.3	Hail	49	1,626	21	135	Relatively Low
Charles Mix County	958	60	87.3	1,045.5	Hail	45	291	17	11	Relatively Low
Brule County	707	33	86.5	1,348.7	Wind	28	182	21	7	Relatively Low
Deuel County	534	28	85.8	1,250.0	Wind	36	99	24	0	Very Low
Kingsbury County	712	41	85.6	1,371.3	Hail	47	187	24	47	Very Low
Brown County	1,437	63	83.9	377.2	Wind	84	438	19	484	Relatively Low
Grant County	566	15	83.1	752.8	Winter	22	128	22	41	Very Low
Beadle County	1,044	56	82.9	546.0	Wind	38	297	21	24	Relatively Low
Marshall County	621	36	74.1	1,442.8	Wind	22	162	20	13	Very Low
Gregory County	751	53	74.0	1,888.4	Hail	27	247	24	3	Very Low
Edmunds County	819	30	72.7	2,030.7	Hail	27	291	20	6	Very Low
Day County	747	37	72.6	1,379.8	Wind	33	207	25	257	Very Low
Clark County	678	20	70.8	1,758.8	Hail	36	234	22	15	Very Low
Campbell County	519	19	70.7	3,760.9	Wind	17	137	15	1	Very Low
Hyde County	568	33	66.0	4,595.5	Wind	16	143	29	1	Very Low
Potter County	559	27	64.9	2,258.6	Wind	20	134	41	0	Very Low
Custer County	977	20	62.8	1,134.9	Hail	14	683	17	50	Very Low
Faulk County	615	19	62.6	2,877.9	Hail	21	193	19	3	Very Low
Roberts County	688	40	62.5	677.0	Wind	32	132	24	51	Very Low
Hand County	867	49	60.3	2,801.3	Hail	40	326	26	8	Very Low
Spink County	865	24	57.5	1,379.8	Hail	43	263	23	74	Very Low
McPherson County	650	29	57.2	2,686.0	Wind	27	198	19	3	Very Low
Lyman County	927	69	56.4	2,462.8	Wind	40	237	30	16	Very Low
Todd County	777	32	56.0	836.7	Wind	40	253	13	4	Very Low
Jones County	540	13	55.7	6,143.3	Wind	8	140	24	0	Very Low
Sully County	525	17	52.1	3,556.9	Wind	21	146	16	5	Very Low
Bennett County	605	22	51.1	1,776.3	Hail	31	222	16	0	Very Low
Jackson County	926	46	49.7	3,217.5	Wind	20	296	28	0	Very Low
Tripp County	795	26	49.3	1,427.5	Wind	35	282	20	0	Very Low
Stanley County	703	20	48.7	2,318.6	Wind	22	185	15	117	Very Low
Haakon County	843	28	46.6	4,594.0	Wind	26	222	18	2	Very Low
Fall River County	809	20	46.5	1,123.3	Hail	30	380	18	1	Very Low
Meade County	1,598	50	46.0	529.6	Hail	46	872	21	23	Relatively Low
Oglala Lakota County	881	30	42.1	648.5	Wind	22	340	0	0	Relatively Low
Butte County	945	34	42.0	903.8	Wind	17	310	23	13	Very Low
Harding County	1,107	42	41.4	8,342.1	Wind	22	366	20	1	Very Low
Corson County	939	27	38.0	2,425.1	Wind	23	311	27	1	Very Low
Ziebach County	738	14	37.6	3,100.8	Wind	24	200	22	3	Very Low
Mellette County	488	16	37.3	2,557.7	Wind	12	164	17	0	Very Low
Dewey County	814	37	35.4	1,551.7	Wind	27	265	17	0	Relatively Low
Perkins County	990	4	34.5	3,511.9	Wind	45	337	26	0	Very Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Lake County	146	139	105.0	291	$7.7M
Minnehaha County	124	214	57.9	425	$8.9M
Codington County	35	243	14.4	472	$6.6M
Union County	24	199	12.1	443	$7.6M
Pennington County	22	253	8.7	135	$556K
Brown County	4	114	3.5	484	$3.3M

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching South Dakota by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Severe Storm	34
Fire	27
Flood	21
Biological	5
Snowstorm	4
Winter Storm	3
Straight-Line Winds	1
Coastal Storm	1
Tornado	1
Drought	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
1 Sep 2026	DR-4941	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	0
1 Sep 2026	DR-4938	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	8
7 Apr 2026	DR-4903	Major disaster	Straight-Line Winds	Straight-Line Winds	3
13 Mar 2026	FM-5622	Fire management assistance	Fire	Qury Fire	1
11 Sep 2025	DR-4890	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storm And Flooding	0
1 Nov 2024	DR-4842	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	0
15 Aug 2024	DR-4807	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	25
6 Jul 2023	DR-4718	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	10
27 Feb 2023	DR-4689	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm	17
20 Feb 2023	DR-4688	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm	0
20 Feb 2023	DR-4687	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm	0
2 Aug 2022	DR-4664	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	6
29 Jun 2022	DR-4656	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	20
4 Oct 2021	FM-5418	Fire management assistance	Fire	Auburn Fire	1
29 Mar 2021	FM-5384	Fire management assistance	Fire	Schroeder Fire	1

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in South Dakota by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

4,016 claims, 3,002 paid, $63M in total; 250 repetitive-loss and 23 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in South Dakota with flood claims (86).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950

Questions and answers

Which South Dakota counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Brown (84), Lincoln (61) and Pennington (49), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which South Dakota counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Brown (484), Codington (472) and Union (443) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has South Dakota had?

98 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 4 of them in 2026 so far.

How does South Dakota compare with the national rate?

73.7 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 4.5 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.