Natural hazards · Isabel

Isabel, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Isabel comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Isabel?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Isabel to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves.

Cold waves84%Inland flooding9%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Isabel faces

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

Cold waves

84% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Isabel flood?

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

Disasters that hit Isabel

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into IsabelDeclared for Dewey County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $2K aid approved

Dewey County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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