Natural hazards · Beresford

Beresford, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Beresford comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Beresford?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Beresford to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding33%Tornadoes25%Drought14%Hail13%Cold waves5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Beresford faces

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

14% of expected damage

Recorded about 29 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Beresford flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Union County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Beresford

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BeresfordDeclared for Union County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $20K aid approved

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$19K to the City of Beresford for repairs

Union County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Beresford

Beresford and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pleasantmostly inland floodingModerate

Beresfordmostly inland floodingModerate

Prairiemostly inland floodingModerate

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. Beresford 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 Beresford’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Beresford. 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.