Natural hazards · Willow Lake

Willow Lake, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Willow Lake comes from cold waves, 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 Willow Lake?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Willow Lake to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves60%Inland flooding22%Drought6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Willow Lake faces

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

Cold waves

60% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 26 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Willow Lake flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Willow Lake.

Disasters that hit Willow Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Willow LakeDeclared for Brule County only

Brule County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Willow Lake

Willow Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Willow Lakemostly cold wavesHigh

Waldromostly cold wavesHigh

Plainfieldmostly cold wavesHigh

Plummermostly cold wavesHigh

Lakemostly cold wavesModerate

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. Willow Lake 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 Willow Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Willow Lake. 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.