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Natural hazards · Howard

Howard, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Howard comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Howard?

47
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Howard to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves37%Inland flooding31%Tornadoes10%Drought7%Everything else15%
By hazard

What Howard faces

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

Cold waves

37% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage
Recorded about 24 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 Howard flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Howard isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Charles Mix County.
Disasters that hit Howard

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HowardDeclared for Charles Mix County only
2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$17K to the Township of Howard for repairs
2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$24K to the Township of Howard for repairs
2011

Flooding

$15K to the Township of Howard for repairs
2010

Flooding

$18K to the Township of Howard for repairs
Charles Mix County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Howard

Howard and the towns around it

Chester: Low, mostly cold wavesKennedy: Moderate, mostly cold wavesMoore: Moderate, mostly cold wavesPlain Center: Moderate, mostly cold wavesGoose Lake: Moderate, mostly cold wavesIowa: Low, mostly cold wavesIndependence: Low, mostly cold wavesArmour: Low, mostly cold wavesGrandview: Low, mostly cold wavesBryan: Moderate, mostly cold wavesChoteau Creek: Moderate, mostly cold wavesEast Choteau: Low, mostly cold wavesRhoda: Moderate, mostly inland floodingClark: Low, mostly cold wavesDarlington: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHighland: Moderate, mostly cold wavesWhite Swan: Moderate, mostly cold wavesJackson: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHoward: Moderate, mostly cold waves HowardChesterKennedyMoorePlain CenterGoose Lake
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Howardmostly cold wavesModerate
Mooremostly cold wavesModerate
Plain Centermostly cold wavesModerate
Goose Lakemostly cold wavesModerate
Kennedymostly cold wavesModerate
Chestermostly cold wavesLow
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. Howard 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 Howard’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Howard. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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