Natural hazards · Dempster

Dempster, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dempster comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 255 claims here since 1986.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dempster?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dempster to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding46%Cold waves18%Tornadoes13%Strong wind9%Hail6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Dempster faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Dempster flood?

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

255paid claims since 1986

$4.1Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19862026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 7 claims, $43K
Late spring storms: 1 claim, $22K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hamlin County.

Disasters that hit Dempster

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into DempsterDeclared for Hamlin County only

Hamlin County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Dempster

Dempster and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Dempstermostly inland floodingModerate

Florencemostly inland floodingModerate

Hamlinmostly inland floodingModerate

Hidewoodmostly 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. Dempster covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Dempster’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Dempster. 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 Dempster total about $3.6M 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.