Natural hazards · Wasta

Wasta, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wasta comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2008.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wasta?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wasta to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding52%Wildfire15%Cold waves12%Hail9%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Wasta faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

15% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce 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 Wasta flood?

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

2paid claims since 2008

$17Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20082026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pennington County.

Disasters that hit Wasta

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Pennington County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Wasta itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into WastaDeclared for Pennington County only

Pennington County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Wasta

Wasta and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wastamostly inland floodingHigh

Crooked Creekmostly inland floodingHigh

Shynemostly inland floodingHigh

Owankamostly inland floodingHigh

Lake Flatmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Wasta covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wasta’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Wasta. 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 Wasta total about $2.6M 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.