Natural hazards · Brookings

Brookings, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brookings comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 14 claims here since 1980. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brookings?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brookings to be higher than in 35% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding31%Tornadoes29%Cold waves23%Strong wind5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Brookings faces

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

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Brookings flood?

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

14paid claims since 1980

$187Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 1 claim, $43K

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. Brookings isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Brookings County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Brookings

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrookingsDeclared for Brookings County only

2022

Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$475K to the City of Brookings for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

49 households applied for aid $85K aid approved

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$116K to the City of Brookings for repairs

2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$12K to the City of Brookings for repairs

Brookings County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Brookings

Brookings and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Medarymostly inland floodingHigh

Auroramostly inland floodingModerate

Trentonmostly inland floodingModerate

Brookingsmostly inland floodingLow

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. Brookings covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Brookings’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Brookings. 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 Brookings total about $8.5M 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.