Codington County, SD Environment & Hazard Risk

• Ice stormRelatively High$1.8M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 2 years
• Winter weatherRelatively High$594K/yr expected annual loss, about 22 events a year
• Cold waveRelatively Moderate$4.7M/yr expected annual loss, about 13 events a year
• TornadoRelatively Moderate$3.8M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 2 years
• WildfireRelatively Low$205K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 1,502 years
• HailRelatively Low$616K/yr expected annual loss, about 4.1 events a year
• Strong windRelatively Moderate$908K/yr expected annual loss, about 2.9 events a year
• Heat waveVery Low$234K/yr expected annual loss, about 2.6 events a year
• DroughtRelatively Low$53.8K/yr expected annual loss, about 4.4 events a year
• LandslideVery Low$209/yr expected annual loss, about once every 13 years
• EarthquakeVery Low$36.4K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 4,386 years
• LightningVery Low$27.1K/yr expected annual loss, about 33 events a year

Bars show the national percentile score (0 to 100) for each hazard. Dollar figures are expected annual losses to buildings, people and crops. Not rated here: avalanche, coastal flooding, hurricane, riverine flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Check the flood zone for an address

Homes with flood insurance

243 of 12,851 (1.9%)

Homes in high-risk flood zones

1,160

Insured in high-risk zones

223 (19%)

Flood claims since 1978

472

Claims paid since 1978

$6.6M

• Hail201
• Thunderstorm Wind108
• Flood79
• Blizzard64 · 2 deaths
• Extreme Cold/Wind Chill41
• High Wind35
• Winter Storm28
• Heavy Snow23
• Drought20
• Tornado18

• Ice Storm01/10/1996

  Codington

  3 deaths, 1 injured, $100K damage

  What happened

  A narrow band of freezing rain caused major disruption to traffic just after the beginning of rush hour, especially in the cities of Sioux Falls and Watertown. Over one hundred accidents occurred, including a collision near Watertown which caused 3 fatalities. The ice accumulation was not enough to cause significant damage to trees or power lines.

• Winter Weather01/26/2022

  Codington

  2 deaths, 2 injured

  What happened

  A single roll-over vehicle accident occurred on Interstate 29 due to icy roadways. Two occupants were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

• Winter Weather10/29/2013

  Codington

  1 death, 4 injured

  What happened

  Light freezing rain caused roads to become slick in and around the Watertown area during the early morning hours. A man died in a one-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 212 about 5 miles east of Watertown when the driver lost control on the ice-covered roadway entered the ditch and rolled. The driver and two passengers were wearing seatbelts and remained in the vehicle. Two passengers were not wearing seatbelts and were thrown from the vehicle. One of these passengers died. The rest had serious non-life threatening injuries.

• Blizzard01/26/2014

  Codington

  1 death, 2 injured

  What happened

  With low visibilities near mile marker 178 on Interstate-29 near Watertown, a pickup struck the back of a car on Sunday afternoon of the 26th. Two people were injured with a teenager dying a few days later as result of her injuries.

• Blizzard02/07/2019

  Codington

  1 death

  What happened

  An upper level low pressure trough brought 2 to 5 inches of snowfall to northeast South Dakota followed by arctic air and very strong north winds. North winds gusting to 40 to 50 mph brought blizzard conditions to much of northeast South Dakota from the morning to the evening of the 7th. All roads in northeast South Dakota were no travel advised or closed. Interstate 29 was closed from Sioux Falls to the North Dakota border through the night into the next morning. Activities and schools were cancelled or closed for the day. A rural Watertown man died in the blizzard conditions and bitter cold when he left his stranded vehicle and tried to walk for help.

• Flood06/01/2019

  Wallace, Codington County

  $6.9M damage

  What happened

  Spring snowmelt and heavy rain flooding from March, April, and May continued into June. This combined with above normal June rainfall resulted in hundreds of thousands of acres of crops damaged or unplanted across central and northeast South Dakota. For the entire state of South Dakota, nearly 4 million acres of crops were left unplanted as a result of the flooding. Total damaged or unplanted crop loss estimates for central and northeast South Dakota were near 307 million dollars.

• Watertown Municipal UtilitiesServes 23,230 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations
• Grant-Roberts Rural Water SystemServes 5,050 · Groundwater · PrivateNo health violations+1 monitoring or reporting
• Sioux Rural Water SystemServes 4,280 · Groundwater · PrivateNo health violations+3 monitoring or reporting
• Clark Rural Water SystemServes 2,325 · Groundwater · PrivateNo health violations
• Clark Rural Water-KampeskaServes 602 · Groundwater · PrivateNo health violations
• FlorenceServes 337 · Purchased groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+1 monitoring or reporting
• HenryServes 256 · Purchased groundwater · Local government1 health violation+18 monitoring or reporting
• South ShoreServes 189 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations