Natural hazards · Upper Red Owl

Upper Red Owl, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Upper Red Owl comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Upper Red Owl?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Upper Red Owl to be higher than in 79% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding38%Wildfire33%Cold waves11%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Upper Red Owl faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

33% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Upper Red Owl flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Upper Red Owl.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Meade County.

Disasters that hit Upper Red Owl

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Meade County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Upper Red Owl itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Upper Red OwlDeclared for Meade County only

Meade County has had 19 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. Upper Red Owl 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 Upper Red Owl’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Upper Red Owl. 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.