Natural hazards · Wachter

Wachter, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wachter comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wachter?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wachter to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves45%Inland flooding21%Hail11%Tornadoes7%Strong wind6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Wachter faces

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

Cold waves

45% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Wachter flood?

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

Disasters that hit Wachter

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WachterDeclared for McPherson County only

McPherson County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Wachter

Wachter and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wachtermostly cold wavesLow

Carlmostly cold wavesLow

Webermostly cold wavesLow

Palmyramostly inland floodingLow

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. Wachter 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 Wachter’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Wachter. 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.