Natural hazards · Alpena

Alpena, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alpena comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high 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 Alpena?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alpena to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves45%Inland flooding25%Drought8%Tornadoes6%Hail5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Alpena faces

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

Cold waves

45% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 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 Alpena flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jerauld County.

Disasters that hit Alpena

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AlpenaDeclared for Jerauld County only

2005

Severe Winter Storm

$5K to the Town of Alpena for repairs

Jerauld County has had 17 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. Alpena 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 Alpena’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Alpena. 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.