Natural hazards · Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sioux Falls comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 153 claims here since 1979. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sioux Falls?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sioux Falls to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes37%Inland flooding34%Cold waves15%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Sioux Falls faces

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

Tornadoes

37% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

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 Sioux Falls flood?

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

153paid claims since 1979

$5.9Mpaid to owners

13homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

June Midwest Flooding: 11 claims, $623K
Midwest Flooding: 5 claims, $48K
Late spring storms: 2 claims, $1.0M

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

🏷️ 20% off flood insurance. Sioux Falls is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 6) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Minnehaha County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

13flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Sioux Falls

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Sioux FallsDeclared for Minnehaha County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

35 households applied for aid $61K aid approved $771K to the City of Sioux Falls for repairs

2022

Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$476K to the City of Sioux Falls for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

154 households applied for aid $99K aid approved $1.6M to the City of Sioux Falls for repairs

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

200 households applied for aid $260K aid approved $1.7M to the City of Sioux Falls for repairs

2013

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$6.0M to the City of Sioux Falls for repairs

2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$959K to the City of Sioux Falls for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

$126K to the City of Sioux Falls for repairs

Minnehaha County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sioux Fallsmostly tornadoesLow

Delapremostly tornadoesLow

Springdalemostly tornadoesLow

Brandonmostly tornadoesLow

Mapletonmostly tornadoesLow

Bentonmostly tornadoesLow

Waynemostly tornadoesLow

Pine Lakes Additionmostly tornadoesLow

Split Rockmostly tornadoesLow

Andersonmostly tornadoesVery 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. Sioux Falls covers 41 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sioux Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Sioux Falls. 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 Sioux Falls total about $91.4M 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.