2 flood insurance claims·$27,581 paid·4 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Abbeville County, South Carolina. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding driven by heavy rainfall and thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Abbeville County, accounting for 11 of the 17 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 5 general flood events and 1 tropical storm.
Severe weather events have historically caused significant localized impacts. In October 2015, slow-moving low pressure tapping into tropical moisture from Hurricane Joaquin produced storm totals of 7 to 10 inches in the lower Piedmont, resulting in significant flooding. More recently, in October 2021, slow-moving thunderstorm clusters generated torrential rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour and total amounts of 7 inches within a few hours, triggering flash flooding and general flooding. Tropical systems also pose a threat, as demonstrated by the moisture and heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Helene in September 2024.
Federal flood insurance claims data shows historical payouts concentrated in specific hazard areas, with Zone A recording 2 claims averaging $13,790 each, with an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Property owners located within Zone A and those situated near low-lying areas prone to rapid accumulation from heavy rainfall should pay the closest attention to flood risks in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8 NOAA storm reports from Abbeville County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Carolina flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Hurricane Debby | Aug 4, 2024 |
| Hurricane Idalia | Aug 29, 2023 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 25, 2022 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Aug 31, 2019 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 8, 2018 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 6, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
17 since 1996: 11 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $3.0M |
| Flood | Oct 7, 2021 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 7, 2021 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 30, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Oct 4, 2015 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2015 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Nov 2, 2015 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2013 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. 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 band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flood · Oct 7, 2021. A slow moving area of upper level low pressure over the Mid-Mississippi Valley pumped semi-tropical weather into the western Carolinas for a couple of days, resulting in occasional rounds of moderate to heavy in the day leading up to the 7th. Scattered slow-moving thunderstorm clusters developed during the morning of the 7th, producing torrential rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour and total rainfall amounts…
Flash Flood · Oct 7, 2021. A slow moving area of upper level low pressure over the Mid-Mississippi Valley pumped semi-tropical weather into the western Carolinas for a couple of days, resulting in occasional rounds of moderate to heavy in the day leading up to the 7th. Scattered slow-moving thunderstorm clusters developed during the morning of the 7th, producing torrential rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour and total rainfall amounts…
Flash Flood · Dec 30, 2015. After a couple of days of occasional moderate to heavy rain acted to elevate stream flows and soil moisture levels, heavy rain showers and thunderstorms developing along and ahead of a cold front produced 2-3 inches of rain in just a few hours across portions of the Piedmont, resulting in areas of flash flooding.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Abbeville County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.