117 flood insurance claims·$2.4M paid·4 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 Stanley 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.
Prolonged river flooding and general high-water events dominate the flood profile of Stanley County, with NOAA records detailing 23 standard floods compared to 9 flash floods over the last 30 years. Heavy rainfall on saturated soils caused stream and creek overflow along the Bad River between Wendt and Fort Pierre in September 2025. Additionally, above-normal snowpack melt and ice jamming brought flooding along the Bad River near Fort Pierre in March 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in both designated special flood hazard areas and moderate-to-low risk zones have experienced losses. Zone A accounts for 56 claims with an average payout of $28,154 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X records show 54 claims with an average payout of $37,234 and an average water depth of 9 inches, alongside unshaded Zone X claims recording an average water depth of 84 inches. Consequently, homeowners, journalists, and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties situated near rivers, streams, and low-lying areas across all mapped zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Stanley County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
61 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 7 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 103 claims and $2.4M 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Stanley County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Dakota flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1976, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 12, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 24, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 17, 2015 |
| Flooding | Mar 11, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 2, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Sep 6, 2005 |
| Severe Storm | Jun 7, 2005 |
| Severe Flooding, Sever Winter Storms,heavy Rains High Winds | Feb 3, 1997 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
32 since 1996: 9 flash floods and 23 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 31, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 27, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 25, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 1, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 18, 2025. Moderate to heavy rainfall occurred across a broad portion of Stanley and Dewey counties. The COOP observer 3 miles west southwest of Wendt would record a 2 day total of 4.94 while the CoCoRaHS observer in Fort Pierre received 4.06 over 3 days. This area had also received about an inch of rainfall on or around the 15th. Rainfall and saturated soils resulted in flooding of several streams and creeks, including the…
Flash Flood · Aug 21, 2024. Widespread, slow moving thunderstorms brought hail, gusty wnds and heavy rain to portions of central South Dakota on the afternoon and evening of August 21st. Hail to the size of tennis balls was observed by a trained spotter 4 miles northwest of Murdo. A peak wind speed of 65 mph was observed at a weather station 13 miles north northwest of Sansarc while the ASOS in Pierre peaked at 59 mph. Emergency management…
Flood · May 31, 2019. Thunderstorms brought some isolated large hail along with some flooding to parts of central and northeast South Dakota during the evening hours.
Flood · Mar 27, 2019. Much above normal snow pack melt water and ice jamming brought flooding on the the Grand, Moreau, and Bad rivers across Corson, Dewey, Jones, and Stanley counties at the end of March. The Grand River at Little Eagle rose to moderate flood stage, nearly 4 and half feet above the flood stage of 15 feet. The Moreau River near Whitehorse rose to major flood stage, almost 28 feet or 7 feet above flood stage. The Bad Ri…
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 Stanley 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.