472 flood insurance claims·$6.5M paid·11 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Codington County, South Dakota. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flooding from recurring storms dominates the flood risk profile in Codington County, with NOAA records documenting 76 flood events alongside 12 flash flood events over the last 30 years.
Severe weather events highlight this ongoing hazard. In June 2025, multiple thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall to the region, causing washed-out roads and water reaching a home's foundation near Ortley. A month later in July 2025, afternoon thunderstorms produced large hail near Lake Kampeska and Watertown, alongside heavy rainfall from persistent re-development that contributed to local flooding.
Property owners across multiple zones should pay close attention to this risk, as National Flood Insurance Program claims are not limited to high-risk areas. Zone X accounts for 223 claims with an average payout of $18,081 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone A records 201 claims with an average payout of $16,552 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. An additional 43 claims are logged in unknown zones with an average payout of $4,662 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, and 5 claims in unshaded Zone X averaged $14,289 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Codington County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
206 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 4 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1997, with 198 claims and $4.5M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms and Blizzard Conditions and Severe Flooding, Sever Winter Storms,heavy Rains High Winds.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
46 NOAA storm reports from Codington County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Dakota flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Flooding | Apr 9, 2023 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 12, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Sep 9, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding | Mar 13, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 24, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 19, 2013 |
| Flooding | Mar 11, 2011 |
| Flooding | Mar 10, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
88 since 1996: 12 flash floods and 76 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 28, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 23, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 23, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 22, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 6, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 28, 2025. An afternoon thunderstorm developed near the town of Henry and very quickly spun up a violent tornado. This tornado would cause significant damage to a farmstead before dissipating. The storm would go on to produce large hail, up to the size of baseballs near Lake Kampeska, with numerous additional reports of golf-ball sized hail, in and around the city of Watertown. The Watertown Automated Surface Observing Syste…
Flood · Jun 26, 2025. On June 25th, multiple thunderstorms from the morning into the early afternoon caused flooding in parts of northeast South Dakota. A CoCoRaHS observer 4 miles south-southeast of Milbank recorded 3.33 inches of rain, while the COOP observer in Milbank measured 3.25 inches. Grant County Emergency Management sent photos of washed-out roads, and a resident near Ortley documented water reaching a home's foundation.||Th…
Flood · Jul 23, 2025. Heavy precipitation on July 23rd resulted in a steep increase in the river level of the South Branch Tributary of Mud Creek near Rauville.
Flood · Aug 23, 2025. Storms moved over portions of northeast South Dakota that had really no extra room for moisture from the preceding months of nearly constant rainfall. Thus, this moisture went straight into the Big Sioux and tributaries from the Watertown area down south to Castlewood. The COOP observer in Rauville would record 1.51 inches of rainfall pushing their monthly total up to 5.73 and a 3 month total of 23.32. The Waterto…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Codington County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.