Natural hazards · Hazel

Hazel, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hazel comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hazel?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hazel to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding34%Cold waves23%Tornadoes15%Strong wind11%Hail8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Hazel faces

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

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

8% 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 Hazel flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Hazel 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 Hazel

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HazelDeclared for Hamlin County only

2005

Severe Winter Storm

$5K to the Town of Hazel for repairs

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

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