Natural hazards · Buffalo

Buffalo, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buffalo?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buffalo to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding37%Tornadoes26%Cold waves11%Drought10%Hail8%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Buffalo faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

26% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% 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 Buffalo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Buffalo 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 Buffalo

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BuffaloDeclared for Minnehaha County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$32K to the Township of Buffalo for repairs

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

Around Buffalo

Buffalo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Franklinmostly inland floodingModerate

Ramseymostly inland floodingModerate

Buffalomostly inland floodingLow

Taopimostly inland floodingLow

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