Most disaster-prone counties in South Dakota
South Dakota has 1,235 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 65 counties. The dominant hazard type is severe storm. Turner County leads with 26 declarations, followed by Hanson County and Day County.
This ranking shows every county in South Dakota ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.
Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.
All counties by FEMA declaration count
| # | County | Declarations | Top hazard | First year | Latest year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turner County | 26 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2024 |
| 2 | Hanson County | 25 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 3 | Day County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2023 |
| 4 | Deuel County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2023 |
| 5 | Hutchinson County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2024 |
| 6 | Kingsbury County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2023 |
| 7 | Roberts County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2023 |
| 8 | Aurora County | 23 | Flood | 1976 | 2024 |
| 9 | Codington County | 23 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 10 | Spink County | 23 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2022 |
| 11 | Clark County | 22 | Flood | 1976 | 2023 |
| 12 | Grant County | 22 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 13 | Gregory County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 14 | Hamlin County | 22 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 15 | Jackson County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 16 | Sanborn County | 22 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 17 | Brookings County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2023 |
| 18 | Brule County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 19 | Butte County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2022 |
| 20 | Hand County | 21 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 21 | Jerauld County | 21 | Flood | 1976 | 2020 |
| 22 | McCook County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 23 | Meade County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2020 |
| 24 | Moody County | 21 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 25 | Perkins County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2020 |
| 26 | Ziebach County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2023 |
| 27 | Beadle County | 20 | Flood | 1969 | 2022 |
| 28 | Buffalo County | 20 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 29 | Edmunds County | 20 | Flood | 1969 | 2020 |
| 30 | Lake County | 20 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 31 | Marshall County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2023 |
| 32 | Miner County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 33 | Pennington County | 20 | Flood | 1965 | 2021 |
| 34 | Tripp County | 20 | Flood | 1976 | 2024 |
| 35 | Brown County | 19 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 36 | Clay County | 19 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 37 | Union County | 19 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 38 | Douglas County | 18 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 39 | Charles Mix County | 17 | Flood | 1976 | 2024 |
| 40 | Faulk County | 17 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 41 | Lawrence County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1965 | 2020 |
| 42 | Lincoln County | 17 | Flood | 1969 | 2024 |
| 43 | McPherson County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2022 |
| 44 | Minnehaha County | 17 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2024 |
| 45 | Bon Homme County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 46 | Corson County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2020 |
| 47 | Custer County | 16 | Fire | 1972 | 2026 |
| 48 | Dewey County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2020 |
| 49 | Haakon County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2022 |
| 50 | Hughes County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2020 |
| 51 | Lyman County | 16 | Flood | 1976 | 2020 |
| 52 | Potter County | 16 | Flood | 1976 | 2023 |
| 53 | Sully County | 16 | Flood | 1976 | 2020 |
| 54 | Yankton County | 16 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 55 | Campbell County | 15 | Coastal Storm | 1976 | 2020 |
| 56 | Davison County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2024 |
| 57 | Fall River County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1997 | 2020 |
| 58 | Harding County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2020 |
| 59 | Jones County | 15 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2023 |
| 60 | Bennett County | 14 | Flood | 1976 | 2024 |
| 61 | Hyde County | 14 | Flood | 1969 | 2020 |
| 62 | Mellette County | 14 | Coastal Storm | 1976 | 2023 |
| 63 | Stanley County | 14 | Severe Storm | 1976 | 2023 |
| 64 | Todd County | 13 | Flood | 1976 | 2023 |
| 65 | Walworth County | 12 | Flood | 1976 | 2020 |