Natural hazards · Bristol

Bristol, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bristol comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bristol?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bristol to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves43%Inland flooding23%Drought11%Tornadoes8%Ice storms7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Bristol faces

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

Cold waves

43% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Ice storms

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HailWinter 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 Bristol flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Aurora County.

Disasters that hit Bristol

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Aurora County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Bristol itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into BristolDeclared for Aurora County only

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

Around Bristol

Bristol and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Violamostly cold wavesHigh

Bristolmostly cold wavesModerate

Firesteelmostly cold wavesModerate

Belfordmostly cold wavesModerate

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