Natural hazards · Spearfish

Spearfish, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Spearfish comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1992.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Spearfish?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding51%Cold waves13%Hail10%Tornadoes8%Strong wind7%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Spearfish 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 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

10% 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 wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Spearfish flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Spearfish, from FEMA’s records.

11paid claims since 1992

$206Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19922026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 05% off flood insurance. Spearfish is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 9) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Lawrence County.

Disasters that hit Spearfish

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into 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. Spearfish covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Spearfish’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Spearfish. 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 Spearfish total about $1.7M 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.