Natural hazards · Gem

Gem, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Gem comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 1997.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Gem?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Gem to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding39%Cold waves34%Tornadoes7%Hail7%Strong wind6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Gem faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

34% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Gem flood?

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

12paid claims since 1997

$176Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Brown County.

Disasters that hit Gem

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into GemDeclared for Brown County only

Brown County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Gem

Gem and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Gemmostly inland floodingLow

West Hansonmostly inland floodingLow

Warnermostly inland floodingLow

Bathmostly inland floodingLow

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. Gem covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Gem’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Gem. 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 Gem total about $5.2M 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.