Natural disaster risk in South Carolina

How disaster-prone is South Carolina?

South Carolina (SC) sits at a low level of federally recognized natural-disaster risk, with 13 FEMA disaster declarations on record, including 5 Major Disaster declarations (DR) that triggered full federal individual and public assistance. The dominant declaration type is Hurricane, followed by Fire (3), Tropical Storm (3), Winter Storm (1). Declaration counts at the state level reflect the cumulative federal footprint: large multi-county events count once per state, but repeat hazard patterns across decades are visible in the breakdown below.

NOAA's Storm Events Database adds the near-term severe-weather lens. Between 2015 and 2025, South Carolina recorded 11,409 individual storm events, causing 132 fatalities and 376 injuries, with combined property and crop damage estimated at $1.8B. The most frequent event types in the state are Thunderstorm Wind (6,347 events), Hail (1,288 events), Flash Flood (1,077 events). Across the state's 46 analyzed counties, FEMA's own National Risk Index flags 4 as high-risk, with an average county Risk Index score (FEMA's own formula, distinct from our Risk Score tool below) of 70.7/100.

NFIP claims data is limited or absent for this state in the current extract, which usually indicates low flood-policy penetration rather than zero flood risk. The highest-Expected-Annual-Loss hazard across the state is Hurricane, estimated at $1.2B annually. Drill into individual counties for localized risk, read FEMA's hazard-specific briefings, and review insurance and flood-zone designations, state-level averages can mask sharp county-to-county differences in exposure and resilience.