South Dakota is prone to weather disasters

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - From floods to wildfires, and blizzards to hail, South Dakota sees its fair share of natural disasters every year, ranking 12th in the county, not far from hurricane-ravaged Florida.

WalletHub compared 50 states across two key metrics to rank the states for how prone they are to weather disasters. Those metrics are the number of climate disasters causing at least $1 billion in damage since 1980, and the loss amount per capita of those disasters. South Dakota ranks 12th for the number of disasters between 1980 to 2022. The state is tied at number one for loss per capita.

That loss includes everything from crops being destroyed or vehicles damaged during hailstorms to livestock lost during blizzards. It even includes loss of homes during wildfires.

Over the last several years, South Dakota has seen some historic weather events such as a three-day blizzard in October 2013, the June 6th derecho which had wind reports of more than 100 mph. and the thunderstorms that produced grapefruit sized hail on June 12.