Natural hazards · Freeman

Freeman, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Freeman comes from drought, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2024. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Freeman?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Freeman to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought32%Inland flooding29%Tornadoes15%Cold waves12%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Freeman faces

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

Drought

32% of expected damage

Recorded about 27 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 Freeman flood?

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

1paid claims since 2024

$25Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20242026

Biggest named events

June Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $25K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hutchinson County.

Disasters that hit Freeman

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FreemanDeclared for Hutchinson County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $5K aid approved $108K to the City of Freeman for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $730 aid approved

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

2013

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$16K to the City of Freeman for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

Hutchinson County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Freeman

Freeman and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Freemanmostly droughtModerate

Grandviewmostly droughtModerate

Valleymostly droughtModerate

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