10 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 Deuel 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.
General flooding driven by heavy rainfall and winter snowmelt dominates the flood risk profile in Deuel County, South Dakota, supported by a historical mix of eleven flood events and eight flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years.
Recent history illustrates these varied triggers. In March 2019, above-normal winter snowfall, meltwater, ice jams, and heavy rain caused widespread flooding of rivers, creeks, fields, and roads, damaging culverts and structures. Later, heavy rainfall from thunderstorms on August 17, 2025, compounded weeks of wet weather to produce additional flooding across the county. Flash flooding has also accompanied severe weather, such as powerful supercell thunderstorms on June 28, 2025, which brought heavy rainfall alongside tornadoes and large hail.
Property owners and real estate professionals should pay the closest attention to locations near rivers, creeks, fields, and roads vulnerable to overflow from rapid snowmelt, ice jams, and intense summer rainfall.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8 NOAA storm reports from Deuel County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Dakota flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 12, 2022 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 12, 2022 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 21, 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.
19 since 1996: 8 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Aug 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 25, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 1, 2019 | $128,700 |
| Flood | Apr 21, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2014 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. A volatile atmospheric setup on the afternoon and evening of June 28th led to the development of several powerful supercell thunderstorms across far eastern South Dakota. These storms produced multiple tornadoes, including two that caused significant damage in Deuel County. The strongest tornado was rated as a high-end EF3. Storms also produced large hail and instances of flash flooding from heavy rainfall.
Flood · Aug 17, 2025. Brief but intense heavy rainfall from thunderstorms, on top of weeks of wet weather, resulted in additional flooding across Marshall, Hamlin, Codington, and Deuel counties starting on the 17th and persisting well into the 18th. An estimated 3 inches of rain fell in Lake Poinsett, while 1.63 inches was recorded by the COOP sensor 20 miles north northeast of Aberdeen, 1.62 inches was submitted by the CoCoRaHS volun…
Flood · Mar 25, 2019. Much above normal winter snowfall and melt water/ice jams along with heavy rains in the middle of March brought flooding across parts of central and northeast South Dakota for late March. Rivers and creeks flooded across much of the area along with many fields and roads. The flooding damaged many of the roads and culverts across the region. Some structures were also flooded. Lake levels also rose threatening homes…
Flood · May 1, 2019. March and April snowmelt and heavy rain flooding along with above normal May precipitation resulted in hundreds of thousands of acres of crops damaged or delayed/unplanted across central and northeast South Dakota. The widespread flooding continued into June with millions of dollars of loss.
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 Deuel 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.