Natural hazards · Dell Rapids

Dell Rapids, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dell Rapids comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 60 claims here since 1984. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dell Rapids?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dell Rapids to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding43%Tornadoes30%Cold waves14%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Dell Rapids faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 50 years in the area

Cold waves

14% 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 Dell Rapids flood?

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

60paid claims since 1984

$737Kpaid to owners

9homes flooded more than once

19842026

Biggest named events

Midwest Flooding: 5 claims, $20K
Late spring storms: 2 claims, $7K
Severe flooding: 1 claim, $434

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Dell Rapids 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

11flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Dell Rapids

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Dell RapidsDeclared for Minnehaha County only

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

24 households applied for aid $86K aid approved $88K to the City of Dell Rapids for repairs

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

12 households applied for aid $18K aid approved $16K to the City of Dell Rapids for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$10K to the City of Dell Rapids for repairs

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

Around Dell Rapids

Dell Rapids and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Dell Rapidsmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Dell Rapids covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Dell Rapids’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Dell Rapids. 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 Dell Rapids total about $2.7M 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.