Natural hazards · Alpha

Alpha, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alpha comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 2011.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Alpha?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alpha to be higher than in 62% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves35%Inland flooding24%Wildfire12%Hail11%Drought8%Tornadoes6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Alpha faces

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

Cold waves

35% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Hail

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Alpha flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Alpha, from FEMA’s records.

4paid claims since 2011

$76Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20112026

Biggest named events

Late spring storms: 1 claim, $74K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hand County.

Disasters that hit Alpha

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Hand County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Alpha itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into AlphaDeclared for Hand County only

Hand County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Alpha

Alpha and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Alphamostly cold wavesHigh

Florencemostly cold wavesHigh

Greenleafmostly cold wavesHigh

Yorkmostly cold wavesHigh

Millermostly cold wavesModerate

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. Alpha covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Alpha total about $3.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.