Natural hazards · Manchester

Manchester, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Manchester comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1987.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Manchester?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Manchester to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves28%Inland flooding28%Tornadoes13%Hail11%Drought7%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Manchester faces

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

Cold waves

28% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Manchester flood?

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

2paid claims since 1987

$25Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19872026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kingsbury County.

Disasters that hit Manchester

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ManchesterDeclared for Kingsbury County only

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

Around Manchester

Manchester and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Manchestermostly cold wavesLow

Iroquoismostly cold wavesLow

De Smetmostly cold wavesLow

Esmondmostly cold wavesLow

Spirit Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Mathewsmostly 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. Manchester covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Manchester’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Manchester. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Manchester total about $3.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.