Flood Help Guide

South Carolina flood insurance and flood history

From FEMA's flood insurance and disaster data · Updated 2026-10-08

49,622NFIP flood claims since 1978
$1.0 billionPaid on those claims
$41,440Average paid claimlast 10 years
6.1%Homes with NFIP flood insurance
9Flood disaster declarationssince 2000

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data lists 49,622 flood insurance claims in South Carolina since 1978. The NFIP paid $1.0 billion on them (building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments, in the dollars of the year paid).

The year with the most claims was 1989, with 14,879, mostly from Hurricane Hugo.

In the last ten years (2017–2026) there were 8,344 claims, and the average paid claim was $41,440.

18% of the claims with a recorded flood zone came from buildings outside FEMA's high-risk zones (rated zones B, C and X).

About 6.1% of homes in South Carolina had an NFIP flood policy in FEMA's latest count (121,413 of 1,976,591 residential buildings). In the high-risk flood zones (Special Flood Hazard Areas), it was 85% (66,329 of 78,001).

Since 2000, FEMA has made 9 flood-related disaster declarations covering parts of South Carolina. The most recent was DR-4858-SC (Severe Storms and Flooding), declared January 10, 2025.

Flood insurance claims in South Carolina by year

NFIP flood claims per year in South Carolina, 1978 to 202605k10k15k20k1978: 26 claims, $12,688 paid1979: 891 claims, $1.6 million paid1980: 52 claims, $48,957 paid19801981: 106 claims, $90,348 paid1982: 189 claims, $215,227 paid1983: 168 claims, $440,796 paid1984: 87 claims, $213,188 paid1985: 134 claims, $216,311 paid1986: 256 claims, $1.2 million paid1987: 1,579 claims, $5.7 million paid1988: 155 claims, $335,136 paid1989: 14,879 claims, $361.9 million paid1990: 203 claims, $643,618 paid19901991: 105 claims, $292,500 paid1992: 139 claims, $519,104 paid1993: 294 claims, $1.2 million paid1994: 1,322 claims, $5.9 million paid1995: 319 claims, $2.2 million paid1996: 1,175 claims, $3.3 million paid1997: 228 claims, $1.2 million paid1998: 1,018 claims, $3.1 million paid1999: 2,346 claims, $21.9 million paid2000: 172 claims, $1.3 million paid20002001: 150 claims, $1.8 million paid2002: 172 claims, $1.2 million paid2003: 177 claims, $1.2 million paid2004: 401 claims, $5.7 million paid2005: 233 claims, $2.2 million paid2006: 50 claims, $408,379 paid2007: 55 claims, $315,792 paid2008: 245 claims, $4.8 million paid2009: 167 claims, $1.1 million paid2010: 130 claims, $1.2 million paid20102011: 105 claims, $1.3 million paid2012: 146 claims, $1.7 million paid2013: 289 claims, $3.4 million paid2014: 140 claims, $1.7 million paid2015: 5,710 claims, $147.0 million paid2016: 7,265 claims, $169.4 million paid2017: 2,565 claims, $57.3 million paid2018: 1,699 claims, $109.4 million paid2019: 227 claims, $2.2 million paid2020: 781 claims, $15.0 million paid20202021: 277 claims, $5.0 million paid2022: 1,245 claims, $48.9 million paid2023: 541 claims, $14.1 million paid2024: 899 claims, $26.2 million paid2025: 91 claims, $2.1 million paid2026: 19 claims, $149,328 paid
NFIP claims per year by year of loss. Hover or tap a bar for the count and amount paid. 2026 is partial.
Show as a table
YearClaimsPaid
202619$149,328
202591$2.1 million
2024899$26.2 million
2023541$14.1 million
20221,245$48.9 million
2021277$5.0 million
2020781$15.0 million
2019227$2.2 million
20181,699$109.4 million
20172,565$57.3 million
20167,265$169.4 million
20155,710$147.0 million
2014140$1.7 million
2013289$3.4 million
2012146$1.7 million
2011105$1.3 million
2010130$1.2 million
2009167$1.1 million
2008245$4.8 million
200755$315,792
200650$408,379
2005233$2.2 million
2004401$5.7 million
2003177$1.2 million
2002172$1.2 million
2001150$1.8 million
2000172$1.3 million
19992,346$21.9 million
19981,018$3.1 million
1997228$1.2 million
19961,175$3.3 million
1995319$2.2 million
19941,322$5.9 million
1993294$1.2 million
1992139$519,104
1991105$292,500
1990203$643,618
198914,879$361.9 million
1988155$335,136
19871,579$5.7 million
1986256$1.2 million
1985134$216,311
198487$213,188
1983168$440,796
1982189$215,227
1981106$90,348
198052$48,957
1979891$1.6 million
197826$12,688

Biggest flood events by NFIP payments

The flood events FEMA's claims data names most often for South Carolina, ranked by what the NFIP paid. FEMA names events in its claims records; claims without an event name aren't included here.

EventYearClaimsPaid
Hurricane Hugo198914,728$361.1 million
Hurricane Matthew20167,000$167.4 million
October severe storms20155,279$141.5 million
Hurricane Florence20181,404$105.4 million
Hurricane Irma20172,363$56.1 million
Hurricane Ian20221,073$43.8 million
Hurricane Floyd19992,049$19.6 million
Hurricane Helene2024369$10.2 million
Hurricane Debby2024288$8.8 million
December Nor'easter2023322$8.7 million

Flood history by county

Every South Carolina county in FEMA's data, sorted by number of NFIP claims since 1978. "Insured" is the share of homes with an NFIP policy.

CountyClaimsPaidInsuredFlood declarations
Charleston County19,289$312.2 million31.7%5
Horry County12,525$338.2 million14.6%6
Beaufort County4,968$80.8 million39.7%7
Georgetown County4,748$114.6 million20.7%6
Richland County1,360$60.5 million1.3%6
Greenville County857$14.7 million0.6%7
Dorchester County779$16.9 million5.0%6
Colleton County766$7.2 million8.1%7
Lexington County693$14.2 million1.1%6
Berkeley County619$8.8 million7.2%7
Marion County492$21.5 million2.0%5
Florence County399$7.0 million0.9%6
Sumter County292$7.7 million1.0%5
Spartanburg County158$2.6 million0.2%7
Kershaw County122$972,5871.0%6
Orangeburg County122$3.5 million0.5%8
Williamsburg County118$3.4 million0.5%6
Jasper County113$2.6 million17.8%6
Darlington County109$1.6 million0.3%5
Dillon County102$4.9 million0.8%6
York County77$651,0980.4%5
Fairfield County75$963,6641.6%6
Pickens County63$1.7 million0.3%6
Clarendon County43$549,8860.5%5
Greenwood County43$772,5790.2%6
Aiken County42$210,9390.6%6
Anderson County39$927,1920.1%7
Newberry County39$281,3100.6%7
Lancaster County34$513,6990.4%6
Bamberg County33$1.7 million0.5%9
Marlboro County24$418,1640.3%5
Oconee County24$179,3750.2%6
Hampton County20$248,7120.8%7
Laurens County20$563,3970.2%6
Edgefield County18$365,7810.4%5
Lee County16$183,2470.2%5
Chesterfield County13$166,4440.1%5
Saluda County11$28,7430.3%6
Chester County8$88,5530.2%6
Allendale County6$282,0900.1%6
Barnwell County6$40,5360.1%7
Cherokee County6$46,0780.1%5
Calhoun County5$9,5620.2%7
Abbeville County2$27,5810.1%6
McCormick County2$88,1411.4%6
Union County1$40,5240.0%6

Flood-related FEMA disaster declarations in South Carolina

Declarations since 2000 that FEMA lists as involving flooding. "Help for individuals" means FEMA's Individual Assistance was approved for at least part of the area.

DeclarationDeclaredEventHelp for individuals
DR-4858-SC Jan 10, 2025 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-4835-SC Sep 29, 2024 Tropical Storm Debby No
DR-4829-SC Sep 29, 2024 Hurricane Helene Yes
EM-3619-SC Sep 26, 2024 Hurricane Helene No
EM-3606-SC Aug 5, 2024 Hurricane Debby No
EM-3597-SC Aug 31, 2023 Hurricane Idalia No
DR-4479-SC Mar 17, 2020 Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding No
DR-4241-SC Oct 5, 2015 Severe Storms and Flooding Yes
EM-3373-SC Oct 3, 2015 Severe Storms and Flooding No

What to do with this

A county's history doesn't tell you your own building's risk. To see your property's flood zone, use FEMA's flood map lookup. To weigh coverage, start with do I need flood insurance? and what flood insurance costs.

Where these numbers come from

All figures on this page are calculated from FEMA's public OpenFEMA datasets:

FEMA's redacted claims data doesn't identify properties, and FEMA notes that some records lack a county or flood zone. See how we use the data.