Natural hazards · Alcester

Alcester, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alcester comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Alcester?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alcester to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding33%Tornadoes25%Drought14%Hail13%Cold waves5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Alcester faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

14% of expected damage

Recorded about 29 times a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Alcester flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Alcester.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Alcester isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Union County.

Disasters that hit Alcester

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Alcester itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Alcester.

Brought FEMA money into AlcesterDeclared for Union County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

Union County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Alcester is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Alcester’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Alcester. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.