Natural hazards · Lake Flat

Lake Flat, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lake Flat comes from inland flooding, 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 Lake Flat?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lake Flat to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding52%Wildfire15%Cold waves12%Hail9%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Lake Flat faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

15% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Lake Flat flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pennington County.

Disasters that hit Lake Flat

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Lake FlatDeclared for Pennington County only

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

Around Lake Flat

Lake Flat and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lake Flatmostly inland floodingHigh

Cedar Buttemostly inland floodingHigh

Wastamostly inland floodingHigh

Wallmostly inland floodingHigh

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