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Natural hazards · Letcher

Letcher, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Letcher comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Letcher?

45
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Letcher to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding34%Tornadoes16%Cold waves14%Drought13%Hail7%Wildfire5%Everything else11%
By hazard

What Letcher 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
Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places
Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage
Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 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 wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Letcher flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Letcher isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Sanborn County.
Disasters that hit Letcher

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LetcherDeclared for Sanborn County only
2019

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved
2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$39K to the Town of Letcher for repairs
2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $3K aid approved
2005

Severe Winter Storm

$2K to the Town of Letcher for repairs
2001

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Ice Jams

$3K to the Town of Letcher for repairs
Sanborn County has had 19 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. Letcher 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 Letcher’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Letcher. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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