Natural hazards · Kennebec

Kennebec, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kennebec comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 1999.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Kennebec?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kennebec to be higher than in 85% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves33%Hail6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Kennebec 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 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

33% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce 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 Kennebec flood?

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

8paid claims since 1999

$167Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19992026

Biggest named events

Late spring storms: 1 claim, $32K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lyman County.

Disasters that hit Kennebec

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into KennebecDeclared for Lyman County only

Lyman County has had 14 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. Kennebec 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 Kennebec’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Kennebec. 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.