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Natural hazards · Bates

Bates, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bates comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations
Expected damage

How exposed is Bates?

38
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bates to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding39%Cold waves34%Tornadoes7%Hail7%Strong wind6%Everything else8%
By hazard

What Bates faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

34% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places
Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Flood insurance claims

Does Bates flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bates.

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Bates isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Brown County.
Disasters that hit Bates

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Bates itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Bates.

Brought FEMA money into BatesDeclared for Brown County only
2011

Flooding

$6K to the Township of Bates for repairs
2010

Flooding

$8K to the Township of Bates for repairs
Brown County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Bates

Bates and the towns around it

Scotland: Very low, mostly cold wavesVerdon: Low, mostly inland floodingEast Hanson: Low, mostly inland floodingGarden Prairie: Low, mostly inland floodingConde: Low, mostly inland floodingOak Gulch: Very low, mostly cold wavesValley: Very low, mostly cold wavesAndover: Very low, mostly cold wavesWest Hanson: Low, mostly inland floodingFerney: Low, mostly inland floodingGroton: Low, mostly inland floodingEast Rondell: Low, mostly inland floodingBeotia: Low, mostly inland floodingConde: Low, mostly inland floodingBates: Low, mostly inland flooding BatesScotlandVerdonEast HansonGarden PrairieConde
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Batesmostly inland floodingLow
Verdonmostly inland floodingLow
East Hansonmostly inland floodingLow
Garden Prairiemostly inland floodingLow
Condemostly inland floodingLow
Scotlandmostly cold wavesVery low
About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.
Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Bates is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bates’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Bates. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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