Natural hazards · Florence

Florence, SD natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Florence?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Florence to be higher than in 62% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves35%Inland flooding24%Wildfire12%Hail11%Drought8%Tornadoes6%Everything else5%

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.

Cold waves

35% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Hail

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 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: Hand County.

Disasters that hit Florence

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into FlorenceDeclared for Hand County only

Hand County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Florence

Florence and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Florencemostly cold wavesHigh

Alphamostly cold wavesHigh

Holdenmostly cold wavesHigh

Aldenmostly cold wavesHigh

Carltonmostly cold wavesHigh

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.