Natural hazards · Big Springs

Big Springs, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Springs comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 2014. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Springs?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Springs 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 Big Springs 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 Big Springs flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Big Springs, from FEMA’s records.

4paid claims since 2014

$108Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20142026

Biggest named events

March 2019 Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $2K
June Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $30K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Big Springs 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.

Disasters that hit Big Springs

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big SpringsDeclared for Union County only

2013

Severe Storms, Tornado, and Flooding

$25K to the Township of Big Springs for repairs

2010

Flooding

$51K to the Township of Big Springs for repairs

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

Around Big Springs

Big Springs and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Big Springsmostly inland floodingModerate

Sioux Valleymostly inland floodingModerate

Virginiamostly inland floodingModerate

Emmetmostly inland floodingModerate

Alcestermostly 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. Big Springs covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Big Springs’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Big Springs. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Big Springs total about $3.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.