Natural hazards · Dexter

Dexter, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dexter comes from inland flooding, 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 Dexter?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dexter to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding43%Cold waves17%Tornadoes14%Hail8%Ice storms7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Dexter 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

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Ice storms

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Winter 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 Dexter flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Codington County.

Disasters that hit Dexter

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into DexterDeclared for Codington County only

Codington County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Dexter

Dexter and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Germantownmostly inland floodingModerate

Dextermostly inland floodingModerate

Fullermostly inland floodingModerate

Edenmostly inland floodingModerate

Egelandmostly inland floodingModerate

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