8 flood insurance claims·$121,899 paid·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 Hand 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.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms and general flooding dominate the historical flood record in Hand County, South Dakota, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 23 flash flood events and 19 flood events over the last 30 years.
Severe weather and heavy rainfall have triggered significant localized inundation, as seen during widespread thunderstorms in June 2024. Additionally, significant seasonal snowfall combined with rapid spring warming led to flooding events, such as the persistent deep snowpack melt observed in April 2023. FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across multiple zones, including Zone X_UNSHADED with 5 claims averaging an $18,964 payout and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches, Zone A with 2 claims averaging a $22,344 payout and an average water depth of 4 inches, and Zone X with 1 claim averaging a $1,355 payout and an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Hand County, particularly those with properties located in unshaded Zone X and Zone A areas, should pay the closest attention to flood risk given the documented history of property damage, payout averages, and recorded indoor water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
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 2011, with 3 claims and $76,119 paid, the year of Flooding.
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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Hand County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Dakota flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Flooding | Apr 9, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding | Mar 13, 2019 |
| Flooding | Mar 11, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 21, 2010 |
| Flooding | Mar 10, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 20, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 2, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
42 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 19 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2024 | $191,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 2, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 10, 2023 | $150,000 |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jul 5, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Mar 26, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Aug 2, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 20, 2024. Thunderstorms with heavy rainfall produced flooding across a broad swath of Lyman, Buffalo and Hand counties. In Lyman county, 7.46 inches was observed at a weather station 6 miles south southwest of Oacoma, while the South Dakota State University mesonet station near Oacoma recorded 5.51 inches. A CoCoRaHS observer 5 miles west southwest of Oacoma also observed 4.79 inches. In nearby Buffalo county, 3.56 inches o…
Flash Flood · Jun 2, 2024. Low pressure crossing from west to east across the state provided the support for numerous, widespread severe thunderstorms. The main threat from these storms was large hail, with several reports of hail at or greater than golfball size. Emergency management for Brown county observed hail from golfball to baseball size 3 miles north northwest of Barnard, and hail to the size of baseballs was observed at multiple l…
Flood · Apr 10, 2023. The snowfall during the season in northeast and central South Dakota exceeded normal levels, with many locations ranking among the top 10 for the snowiest seasons. Additionally, the late spring conditions were unusually cold, resulting in a persistent and exceptionally deep snowpack until early April. The depth of the snowpack ranged from 15 to 30 plus inches, containing approximately 4 to 8 inches of snow water e…
Flood · Jun 18, 2020. Very heavy rainfall of 3 to 5 inches brought widespread flooding to east central Hand County. Many roads were flooded with some roads washed out. Many acres of cropland were also flooded for a time.
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 Hand 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.