Natural hazards · Custer

Custer, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Custer comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1999. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Custer?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Custer to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire40%Inland flooding37%Tornadoes6%Cold waves5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Custer faces

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

Wildfire

40% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Custer flood?

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

7paid claims since 1999

$45Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19992026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Custer County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Custer

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CusterDeclared for Custer County only

2025

Straight-Line Winds

$69K to the City of Custer for repairs

2013

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$8K to the City of Custer for repairs

Custer County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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