Natural hazards · St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Lawrence comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate 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. Lawrence?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Lawrence to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves48%Inland flooding29%Tornadoes10%Everything else13%

By hazard

What St. Lawrence faces

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

Cold waves

48% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 55 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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. Lawrence flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hand County.

Disasters that hit St. Lawrence

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into St. LawrenceDeclared for Hand County only

2019

Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding

$24K to the Town of St. Lawrence for repairs

Hand County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

St. Lawrencemostly cold wavesModerate

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. Lawrence 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. Lawrence’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of St. Lawrence. 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.