Natural hazards · Pierre

Pierre, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pierre comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 40 claims here since 1982. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pierre?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pierre to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding60%Cold waves17%Tornadoes7%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Pierre faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce 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 Pierre flood?

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

40paid claims since 1982

$509Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19822026

Biggest named events

Late spring storms: 31 claims, $475K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hughes County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

32flood-prone homes bought out and moved

2buildings retrofitted against wind

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Pierre

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PierreDeclared for Hughes County only

2011

Flooding

323 households applied for aid $911K aid approved

Hughes County has had 15 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. Pierre covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pierre’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Pierre. 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 Pierre total about $4.2M 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.