Natural hazards · Dakota Dunes

Dakota Dunes, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dakota Dunes comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high 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 Dakota Dunes?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dakota Dunes to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding67%Tornadoes18%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Dakota Dunes faces

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

Inland flooding

67% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Dakota Dunes flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Union County.

Disasters that hit Dakota Dunes

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Dakota Dunes itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Dakota Dunes.

Brought FEMA money into Dakota DunesDeclared for Union County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

2011

Flooding

553 households applied for aid $1.6M aid approved

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

Around Dakota Dunes

Dakota Dunes and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Dakota Dunesmostly inland floodingVery high

Big Siouxmostly inland floodingVery high

North Sioux Citymostly inland floodingVery high

Sioux Citymostly tornadoesModerate

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. Dakota Dunes 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 Dakota Dunes’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Dakota Dunes. 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.