Photo: rlh · CC BY 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee isn’t graded for hazard risk: Wounded Knee has 524 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Wounded Knee faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
River and rain flooding
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 Wounded Knee flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Wounded Knee. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Wounded Knee
Disasters that paid out in Wounded Knee itself (aid to households or repair grants to Wounded Knee), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2019Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding33 households applied for aid$65K aid approved
- 79 households applied for aid$10K aid approved
Old photos of Wounded Knee after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Wounded Knee archive →Get ready for what Wounded Knee faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Wounded Knee
Is Wounded Knee 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.
How much is flood insurance in Wounded Knee?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Wounded Knee’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 Wounded Knee?
By FEMA money that reached Wounded Knee, Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding (2019): 33 households applied for aid, $65K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Wounded Knee.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Wounded Knee’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.