Natural hazards · Hamilton

Hamilton, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hamilton comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 2010.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hamilton?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hamilton to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves37%Inland flooding23%Hail10%Tornadoes10%Strong wind8%Wildfire5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Hamilton faces

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

Cold waves

37% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 12% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Wildfire

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Hamilton flood?

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

11paid claims since 2010

$144Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20102026

Biggest named events

Late spring storms: 6 claims, $46K

Disasters that hit Hamilton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HamiltonDeclared for Marshall County only

Marshall County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Hamilton

Hamilton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hamiltonmostly cold wavesLow

Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Fortmostly cold wavesLow

Waverlymostly cold wavesLow

Wismermostly cold wavesLow

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. Hamilton covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hamilton’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Hamilton. 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 Hamilton total about $6.0M 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.