Natural hazards · Florence

Florence, SD natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Florence?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Florence 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 Florence 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 Florence flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Florence 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 Florence

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into FlorenceDeclared for Hamlin County only

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

Around Florence

Florence and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Florencemostly inland floodingModerate

Castlewoodmostly inland floodingModerate

Estellinemostly inland floodingModerate

Dempstermostly inland floodingModerate

Haytimostly inland floodingModerate

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