Natural hazards · Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Belle Plaine comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Belle Plaine?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Belle Plaine to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding47%Cold waves26%Hail10%Tornadoes9%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Belle Plaine faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

26% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Belle Plaine flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Belle Plaine isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Spink County.

Disasters that hit Belle Plaine

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Belle PlaineDeclared for Spink County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$3K to the Township of Belle Plaine for repairs

2011

Flooding

$9K to the Township of Belle Plaine for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$5K to the Township of Belle Plaine for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$2K to the Township of Belle Plaine for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$6K to the Township of Belle Plaine for repairs

Spink County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Belle Plainemostly inland floodingLow

Frankfortmostly inland floodingLow

Harrisonmostly inland floodingLow

Dolandmostly inland floodingLow

Prairie Centermostly inland floodingLow

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. Belle Plaine 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 Belle Plaine’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Belle Plaine. 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.