Natural hazards · Oak Gulch

Oak Gulch, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oak Gulch comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Oak Gulch?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oak Gulch to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves33%Inland flooding23%Strong wind15%Tornadoes10%Hail10%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Oak Gulch faces

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

Cold waves

33% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Oak Gulch flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Day County.

Disasters that hit Oak Gulch

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Oak Gulch itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Oak Gulch.

Brought FEMA money into Oak GulchDeclared for Day County only

2011

Flooding

$6K to the Township of Oak Gulch for repairs

2010

Flooding

$3K to the Township of Oak Gulch for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$23K to the Township of Oak Gulch for repairs

Day County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Oak Gulch

Oak Gulch and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Warrenmostly cold wavesLow

Condemostly inland floodingLow

Oak Gulchmostly cold wavesVery low

Troymostly cold wavesVery low

Scotlandmostly cold wavesVery low

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. Oak Gulch 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 Oak Gulch’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Oak Gulch. 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.