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Natural hazards · Ontario

Ontario, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ontario comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high 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 Ontario?

62
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ontario to be higher than in 62% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves35%Inland flooding24%Wildfire12%Hail11%Drought8%Tornadoes6%Everything else5%
By hazard

What Ontario faces

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

Cold waves

35% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places
Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

12% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Hail

11% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage
Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Ontario flood?

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

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Ontario isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Hand County.
Disasters that hit Ontario

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OntarioDeclared for Hand County only
2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$52K to the Township of Ontario for repairs
2011

Flooding

$32K to the Township of Ontario for repairs
2010

Flooding

$2K to the Township of Ontario for repairs
Hand County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Ontario

Ontario and the towns around it

Campbell: High, mostly cold wavesRiverside: High, mostly cold wavesAlden: High, mostly cold wavesOntario: High, mostly cold waves OntarioCampbell
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Ontariomostly cold wavesHigh
Campbellmostly cold wavesHigh
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. Ontario 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 Ontario’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Ontario. 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.

The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Ontario, SDHand CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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