Natural hazards · Webster

Webster, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Webster comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1999. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Webster?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Webster to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves34%Inland flooding22%Strong wind19%Tornadoes12%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Webster faces

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

Cold waves

34% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

19% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 83 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Webster flood?

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

1paid claims since 1999

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19992026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Day County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Webster

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WebsterDeclared for Day County only

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $366 aid approved

2005

Severe Winter Storm

$14K to the City of Webster for repairs

Day County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Webster

Webster and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ruskmostly inland floodingModerate

Webstermostly cold wavesLow

Webstermostly cold wavesVery 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. Webster covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Webster’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Webster. 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 Webster total about $1.6M 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.