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Natural hazards · Wolsey

Wolsey, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wolsey comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2019. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Wolsey?

41
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wolsey to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding35%Cold waves22%Drought13%Tornadoes10%Hail10%Everything else10%
By hazard

What Wolsey faces

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

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places
Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Wolsey flood?

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

2paid claims since 2019
$41Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20192026
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Wolsey isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Beadle County.
Disasters that hit Wolsey

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WolseyDeclared for Beadle County only
2011

Flooding

$16K to the Township of Wolsey for repairs
2010

Flooding

$12K to the Township of Wolsey for repairs
2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$14K to the Township of Wolsey for repairs
2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$3K to the Township of Wolsey for repairs
Beadle County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Around Wolsey

Wolsey and the towns around it

Vernon: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWolsey: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHartland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingAllen: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWessington: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSand Creek: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDearborn: Moderate, mostly inland floodingKellogg: Moderate, mostly inland floodingTheresa: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBroadland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWhiteside: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWessington: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHulbert: High, mostly cold wavesWolsey: Moderate, mostly inland flooding WolseyVernonWolseyHartlandAllenWessington
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Wolseymostly inland floodingModerate
Vernonmostly inland floodingModerate
Wolseymostly inland floodingModerate
Hartlandmostly inland floodingModerate
Allenmostly inland floodingModerate
Wessingtonmostly inland floodingModerate
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. Wolsey covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wolsey’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Wolsey. 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 Wolsey total about $3.1M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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