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Natural hazards · Belford

Belford, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Belford comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Belford?

48
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Belford to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves43%Inland flooding23%Drought11%Tornadoes8%Ice storms7%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Belford faces

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

Cold waves

43% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage
Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Ice storms

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HailWinter 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 Belford flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Belford isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Aurora County.
Disasters that hit Belford

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BelfordDeclared for Aurora County only
2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$33K to the Township of Belford for repairs
2011

Flooding

$3K to the Township of Belford for repairs
2010

Flooding

$10K to the Township of Belford for repairs
2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$3K to the Township of Belford for repairs
Aurora County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Belford

Belford and the towns around it

Bristol: Moderate, mostly cold wavesElliott: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPalatine: Moderate, mostly cold wavesBlaine: High, mostly cold wavesFiresteel: Moderate, mostly cold wavesViola: High, mostly cold wavesPleasant Valley: Moderate, mostly cold wavesTwin Lake: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLetcher: Moderate, mostly inland floodingHopper: Moderate, mostly cold wavesBlendon: Moderate, mostly inland floodingFranklin: High, mostly cold wavesBelford: Moderate, mostly cold waves BelfordBristolElliottPalatineBlaine
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Blainemostly cold wavesHigh
Belfordmostly cold wavesModerate
Bristolmostly cold wavesModerate
Palatinemostly cold wavesModerate
Elliottmostly inland floodingModerate
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. Belford 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 Belford’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Belford. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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