Natural hazards · Ipswich

Ipswich, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ipswich comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ipswich?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ipswich to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves35%Inland flooding28%Hail10%Tornadoes8%Strong wind6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Ipswich faces

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

Cold waves

35% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% 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 Ipswich flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Edmunds County.

Disasters that hit Ipswich

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into IpswichDeclared for Edmunds County only

2010

Flooding

$6K to the City of Ipswich for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$5K to the City of Ipswich for repairs

Edmunds County has had 18 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. Ipswich 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 Ipswich’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Ipswich. 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.