Natural hazards · Big Stone

Big Stone, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Stone comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 1997. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Stone?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Stone to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves52%Inland flooding27%Tornadoes10%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Big Stone faces

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

Cold waves

52% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 Big Stone flood?

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

8paid claims since 1997

$66Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19972026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 2 claims, $4K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Grant County.

Disasters that hit Big Stone

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big StoneDeclared for Grant County only

2013

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$40K to the City of Big Stone for repairs

2010

Flooding

$8K to the City of Big Stone for repairs

2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$1K to the City of Big Stone for repairs

Grant County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Big Stone

Big Stone and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Big Stone Citymostly cold wavesModerate

Big Stonemostly cold wavesModerate

Ortonvillemostly cold wavesModerate

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