Natural hazards · Elk Point

Elk Point, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elk Point comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elk Point?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elk Point to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding38%Tornadoes26%Drought11%Hail9%Cold waves6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Elk Point faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

26% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 24 times a year in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% 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 Elk Point flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Elk Point 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Elk Point

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Elk PointDeclared for Union County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

21 households applied for aid $249K aid approved

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$3K to the City of Elk Point for repairs

2011

Flooding

9 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

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

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. Elk Point 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 Elk Point’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Elk Point. 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.