Natural hazards · Geneseo

Geneseo, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Geneseo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Geneseo?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Geneseo to be higher than in 70% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves24%Tornadoes11%Strong wind5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Geneseo faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Geneseo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Roberts County.

Disasters that hit Geneseo

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into GeneseoDeclared for Roberts County only

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

Around Geneseo

Geneseo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Geneseomostly inland floodingHigh

Lakemostly inland floodingHigh

Garfieldmostly inland floodingHigh

Lockwoodmostly inland floodingHigh

Melrosemostly cold wavesModerate

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