Natural hazards · Tea

Tea, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Tea comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2018. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Tea?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Tea to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes43%Inland flooding35%Cold waves6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Tea faces

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

Tornadoes

43% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 40 years in the area

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% 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 Tea flood?

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

1paid claims since 2018

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20182026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lincoln County.

Disasters that hit Tea

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TeaDeclared for Lincoln County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

23 households applied for aid $74K aid approved $19K to the City of Tea for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $3K aid approved

2013

Severe Storms, Tornado, and Flooding

$1K to the City of Tea for repairs

2013

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$13K to the City of Tea for repairs

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

Around Tea

Tea and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Teamostly tornadoesLow

Delapremostly tornadoesLow

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. Tea 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 Tea’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Tea. 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.