Natural hazards · McLaughlin

McLaughlin, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in McLaughlin comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is McLaughlin?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in McLaughlin to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves68%Inland flooding19%Everything else13%

By hazard

What McLaughlin faces

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

Cold waves

68% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times 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 McLaughlin flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Corson County.

Disasters that hit McLaughlin

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into McLaughlinDeclared for Corson County only

Corson County has had 13 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. McLaughlin 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 McLaughlin’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of McLaughlin. 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.