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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 low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1998. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Willow Lake?

39
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Willow Lake to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves42%Inland flooding26%Hail11%Tornadoes10%Everything else11%
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

42% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places
Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Willow Lake flood?

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

3paid claims since 1998
$43Kpaid to owners
1homes flooded more than once
19982026

Biggest named events

  • Severe flooding: 1 claim, $2K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Willow Lake isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Clark County.
Disasters that hit Willow Lake

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Willow LakeDeclared for Clark County only
2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$3K to the City of Willow Lake for repairs
2011

Flooding

$22K to the City of Willow Lake for repairs
2010

Flooding

$2K to the City of Willow Lake for repairs
2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

14 households applied for aid $18K aid approved
2005

Severe Winter Storm

$5K to the City of Willow Lake for repairs
2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$6K to the City of Willow Lake for repairs
Clark County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Willow Lake

Willow Lake and the towns around it

Collins: Low, mostly cold wavesLake: Low, mostly cold wavesRosedale: Low, mostly cold wavesWashington: Low, mostly cold wavesPleasant: Low, mostly cold wavesHague: Low, mostly cold wavesMerton: Low, mostly cold wavesWillow Lake: Low, mostly cold waves Willow LakeCollinsLake
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Willow Lakemostly cold wavesLow
Collinsmostly cold wavesLow
Lakemostly cold wavesLow
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 City 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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