South Carolina floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 46 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 2,557 floods and flash floods in South Carolina from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 92 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the October 4, 2015 flash flood: 10 deaths, 32 injuries and $118 million in damage in 2025 dollars across 38 records. South Carolina ranks 30th of 52 states and territories by count and 24th of 51 per square mile.
Floods in South Carolina, 1996 to 2026
Flood records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 2,5571996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 92average
- Deaths
- 3144 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $311Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2015344 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are floods and flash floods common in South Carolina?
South Carolina averages about 92 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 30th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2015 (344). Per 10,000 square miles of land, South Carolina records 851 floods and flash floods since 1996, 24th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in South Carolina have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Charleston County leads South Carolina: 179 days with a flood since 1996, 195.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Charleston County has the most flood records (595 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is flood season in South Carolina?
South Carolina's floods and flash floods by month. The busiest month is August (503 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 58 · Feb 60 · Mar 68 · Apr 46 · May 169 · Jun 265 · Jul 323 · Aug 503 · Sep 368 · Oct 423 · Nov 131 · Dec 143 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in South Carolina?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-10-04 | Flash FloodWoodland Terrace, Richland County One storm episode: 38 records in 8 places, 2015-10-04 to 2015-10-07; the totals are the episode's. Heavy rain in the Midlands...Pee Dee produced flash flooding in across the area. Numerous dams were breached along with numerous bridge and roadways flooded and damaged. | 10 | 32 | $118M | |
| 2018-09-15 | Hurricane Florence · Flash FloodCamp Swamp, Horry County One storm episode: 3 records in 2 places, 2018-09-15 to 2018-09-16; the totals are the episode's. Hurricane Florence began its long Atlantic trek from the Cape Verde Islands in early September. It made landfall near Wrightsville Beach during the morning of September 14th. The barometric pressure at landfall was 959 millibars, or 28.32 inches.The strongest winds were recorded at 106 mph at Cape Lookout, as well as ... | 4 | 0 | $47K | |
| 2016-10-08 | Hurricane Matthew · Flash FloodClaussen, Florence County One storm episode: 26 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. Major Hurricane Matthew moved up the southeast coast and slowly weakened to a category 1 storm as it moved up along the South Carolina coast and then eastward near the North Carolina coast. The hurricane brought 6 to 12 inches of rain and up to 15 inches to some areas of northeast South Carolina, with the bulk of the ... | 2 | 0 | $21M | |
| 2024-09-27 | Hurricane Helene · Flash FloodPowdersville, Anderson County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a ... | 2 | 0 | $1.5M | |
| 2014-08-09 | Flash FloodBrandon, Greenville County Three to six inches of rain falling in a couple of hours caused an extreme urban flash flood and stream flooding event in the Greenville metro area. The flooding initially began on the east side of the city in the Haywood Rd/downtown airport area, where several cars were stalled in deep, rushing water due to an ... | 2 | 0 | $1.9M | |
| 2024-11-07 | FloodOrangeburg Airport, Orangeburg County Record crest flooding occurred along the North Fork Edisto River as a result of heavy rain and upstream small pond and dam failures, causing several fatalities and damage to numerous structures in Orangeburg. The North Fork Edisto in Orangeburg rose from 7.00 feet at 12am EST on November 7th to a record crest of 15.34 ... | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 1998-01-07 | Flash FloodPickens County Excessive rain fell just north of Pickens causing raging water flowing into a lake to wash out a road. Two cars drove into this washout around 2300 EST and then were swept into the lake, killing one young man and injuring three other people. | 1 | 3 | $91K | |
| 2015-10-01 | Flash FloodSaxon, Spartanburg County County comms and FD reported significant flash flooding developed on the north side of the city of Spartanburg after 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in only a couple of hours. Multiple roads were closed due to poor drainage flooding and due to Chinquapin Creek and other small tributaries overflowing their banks. A ... | 1 | 1 | $249K | |
| 2015-01-12 | FloodLancaster County EM reported one fatality when a pickup truck tried to drive through a flooded area and the went onto the shoulder that was washed out. The truck went into the stream and when the driver tried to get out he was carried away. The incident occurred around 630am. | 1 | 0 | $10K | |
| 2013-08-06 | Flash FloodCateechee, Pickens County A car was swept away by flood waters on Silver Creek Road. The car and it's occupant, a 23 year old male, were found separately downstream. The occupant was killed and the car destroyed. Two other cars were swept away at this location with 4 passengers rescued. | 1 | 0 | $63K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest floods and flash floods in South Carolina
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-10-04 | Flash FloodWoodland Terrace, Richland County One storm episode: 38 records in 8 places, 2015-10-04 to 2015-10-07; the totals are the episode's. | 10 | 32 | $118M | |
| 2015-10-03 | Flash FloodSummerville Meml Arp, Dorchester County One storm episode: 38 records in 4 places, 2015-10-03 to 2015-10-04; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $39M | |
| 2015-10-04 | FloodNew Hope, Florence County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $35M | |
| 2016-10-08 | Hurricane Matthew · Flash FloodClaussen, Florence County One storm episode: 26 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 0 | $21M | |
| 2015-10-10 | Flash FloodClubhouse Xrds, Lexington County One storm episode: 5 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $14M | |
| 2004-09-07 | Tropical Storm Frances · FloodPickens County · forecast zone Greater Pickens One named storm filed by several offices: 2 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. | 0 | 0 | $12M | |
| 2020-02-06 | Flash FloodSunset, Pickens County One storm episode: 9 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $7.1M | |
| 2004-07-29 | Flash FloodGreenville County | 0 | 0 | $5.5M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are floods and flash floods becoming more frequent in South Carolina?
South Carolina's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | South Carolina | United States | South Carolina's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 162 | 20,986 | 0.8% |
| 2000s | 554 | 54,913 | 1.0% |
| 2010s | 1,086 | 68,322 | 1.6% |
| 2020-26 | 755 | 43,563 | 1.7% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in South Carolina
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-01 | Flash FloodCitadel, Charleston County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-27 | FloodGilbert, Lexington County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-27 | FloodClubhouse Xrds, Lexington County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-26 | Flash FloodHarris Spgs, Laurens County | 0 | 0 | $2K | |
| 2026-05-26 | FloodSaluda County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-26 | Flash FloodWolfton, Orangeburg County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-26 | Flash FloodNorth, Orangeburg County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-25 | Flash FloodHeath Spgs, Lancaster County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-25 | Flash FloodCauthens Xrds, Lancaster County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-23 | Flash FloodBallentine, Richland County | 0 | 0 | $500K | |
| 2026-05-23 | Flash FloodWhite Rock, Richland County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-23 | Flash FloodBallentine, Richland County | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for floods and flash floods in South Carolina
FEMA has declared 6 disasters in South Carolina for floods and flash floods, counting its incident type and declarations that name flood in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 5 were major disasters, the latest on January 10, 2025.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-01-10 | DR-4858 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 3 |
| 2020-03-17 | DR-4479 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 10 |
| 2015-10-05 | DR-4241 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 36 |
| 2015-10-03 | EM-3373 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 47 |
| 1996-09-30 | DR-1140 | Severe Winds and Flooding Assoc With Hurricane Fran | 5 |
| 1990-10-22 | DR-881 | Severe Storms & Flooding | 13 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Charleston County: the county's whole recordThe South Carolina county with the most floods and flash floods per square mile
- Floods across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in South CarolinaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Severe thunderstorm wind in South Carolina16,518 records
- Hail in South Carolina6,692 records
- Winter storms in South Carolina1,839 records