Natural hazards · Brandon

Brandon, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brandon comes from tornadoes, 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 Brandon?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brandon to be higher than in 28% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes33%Inland flooding32%Cold waves15%Everything else20%

By hazard

What Brandon faces

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

Tornadoes

33% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year 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 Brandon flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Minnehaha County.

Disasters that hit Brandon

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrandonDeclared for Minnehaha County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$38K to the Township of Brandon for repairs

2014

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$48K to the Township of Brandon for repairs

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

Around Brandon

Brandon and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Brandonmostly tornadoesModerate

Red Rockmostly inland floodingModerate

Sioux Fallsmostly tornadoesLow

Edisonmostly inland floodingLow

Brandonmostly tornadoesLow

Mapletonmostly tornadoesLow

Split Rockmostly tornadoesLow

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