Natural hazards · North Spearfish

North Spearfish, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in North Spearfish 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 North Spearfish?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding40%Cold waves14%Wildfire11%Hail9%Tornadoes8%Strong wind7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What North Spearfish faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Hail

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

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

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

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 North Spearfish flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. North Spearfish 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 North Spearfish

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into North SpearfishDeclared 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. North Spearfish 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 North Spearfish’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to North Spearfish. 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.