Cottonwood Creek Bridge · Photo: Robstutz · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Ismay
Ismay isn’t graded for hazard risk: Ismay has 1 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Ismay faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Wildfire
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Ismay flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Ismay. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Ismay isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Custer County.1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Ismay
Disasters that paid out in Ismay itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Ismay), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2011Severe Storms and Flooding1 households applied for aid$153 aid approved
Custer County has had 5 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Custer County, 2020–2020.
Old photos of Ismay after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Ismay archive →Get ready for what Ismay faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Ismay
Is Ismay in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Custer County, 22% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 11.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Ismay?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Ismay’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Ismay?
By FEMA money that reached Ismay, Severe Storms and Flooding (2011): 1 households applied for aid, $153 approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Ismay.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Ismay’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.