Natural hazards · Wacker

Wacker, SD natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wacker comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low 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 Wacker?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wacker 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 Wacker 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 Wacker flood?

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

Disasters that hit Wacker

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Wacker itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Wacker.

Brought FEMA money into WackerDeclared for McPherson County only

2009

Severe Storms and Flooding

$3K to the Township of Wacker for repairs

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

Around Wacker

Wacker and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wackermostly cold wavesLow

Hoffmanmostly cold wavesLow

Webermostly cold wavesLow

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