Natural hazards · German

German, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in German comes from drought, 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 German?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in German to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought44%Inland flooding21%Tornadoes12%Cold waves10%Everything else12%

By hazard

What German faces

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

Drought

44% of expected damage

Recorded about 27 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 German flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hutchinson County.

Disasters that hit German

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into GermanDeclared for Hutchinson County only

Hutchinson County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around German

German and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Germanmostly droughtLow

Kulmmostly droughtLow

Libertymostly droughtLow

Sharonmostly droughtLow

Fairmostly droughtLow

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