Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Fort Yates
Fort Yates isn’t graded for hazard risk: Fort Yates has 107 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Fort Yates 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
Hail
Wildfire
Tornadoes
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 Fort Yates flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Fort Yates. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Fort Yates isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Sioux County.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Fort Yates
Disasters that paid out in Fort Yates itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Fort Yates), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2011Flooding$1K to the City of Fort Yates for repairs
- 2009Severe Storms and Flooding5 households applied for aid$881 aid approved
Sioux County has had 18 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 Sioux County, 2002–2002.
Old photos of Fort Yates after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Fort Yates archive →Get ready for what Fort Yates 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.
- Park in a garage or under cover when storms are forecast.
- Stay away from windows while it falls.
- Photograph roof and car damage for your insurer.
- 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.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- 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 Fort Yates
Is Fort Yates 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 Sioux County, 0.3% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Fort Yates?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Fort Yates’ 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 Fort Yates?
By FEMA money that reached Fort Yates, Flooding (2011): $1K to the City of Fort Yates for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Fort Yates.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Fort Yates’ 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.