Natural hazards · St. Francis

St. Francis, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Francis comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Francis?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Francis to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves37%Inland flooding25%Wildfire15%Tornadoes8%Everything else16%

By hazard

What St. Francis faces

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

Cold waves

37% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

15% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 St. Francis flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Todd County.

Disasters that hit St. Francis

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into St. FrancisDeclared for Todd County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

42 households applied for aid $15K aid approved

Todd County has had 11 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. St. Francis 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 St. Francis’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of St. Francis. 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.