Natural hazards · Harrisburg

Harrisburg, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harrisburg comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2013. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Harrisburg?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harrisburg to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes43%Inland flooding36%Cold waves7%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Harrisburg faces

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

Tornadoes

43% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 65 years in the area

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Harrisburg flood?

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

2paid claims since 2013

$512Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20132026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lincoln County.

Disasters that hit Harrisburg

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Harrisburg itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Harrisburg.

Brought FEMA money into HarrisburgDeclared for Lincoln County only

2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

30 households applied for aid $141K aid approved

2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid

Lincoln County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Harrisburg

Harrisburg and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

La Valleymostly inland floodingModerate

Daytonmostly inland floodingModerate

Harrisburgmostly tornadoesModerate

Delapremostly tornadoesLow

Springdalemostly tornadoesLow

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. Harrisburg covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Harrisburg’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Harrisburg. 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 Harrisburg total about $4.0M 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.