Natural hazards · Lead

Lead, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lead comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lead?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lead to be higher than in 54% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding51%Cold waves12%Hail10%Strong wind7%Lightning6%Tornadoes5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Lead faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Lead flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lawrence County.

Disasters that hit Lead

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LeadDeclared for Lawrence County only

Lawrence County has had 15 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. Lead covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Lead’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Lead. 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 Lead total about $1.1M 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.