Natural hazards · Clearwater

Clearwater, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Clearwater comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Clearwater?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Clearwater to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding25%Drought23%Cold waves20%Tornadoes16%Hail7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Clearwater faces

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

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Drought

23% of expected damage

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 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 Clearwater flood?

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

Disasters that hit Clearwater

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ClearwaterDeclared for Miner County only

Miner County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Clearwater

Clearwater and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Winfredmostly inland floodingModerate

Clearwatermostly inland floodingLow

Howardmostly inland floodingLow

Hendenmostly inland floodingLow

Vermillionmostly inland floodingLow

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. Clearwater 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 Clearwater’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Clearwater. 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.