42 flood insurance claims·$210,939 paid·5 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 Aiken 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 from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Aiken County, supported by 20 flash flood events, 7 general flood events, and 5 tropical storm events over the last 30 years.
Recent weather events illustrate these risks. On August 16, 2025, slow-moving thunderstorms with precipitable water exceeding two inches and high soil moisture produced flash flooding near the Savannah River. Heavy rainfall and tropical moisture also impacted the region on November 6, 2024, when a stalled front and moisture linked to Hurricane Rafael caused rain rates exceeding two to four inches per hour. Additionally, Tropical Storm Helene brought widespread significant wind damage and moisture to the area on September 27, 2024, contributing to a historical total of 10 deaths from tropical storms in the county.
NFIP claims data shows that Zone A properties experienced the highest impact with 27 claims, averaging a $15,065 payout and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Zone X properties recorded 7 claims with an average payout of $15,510 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, while Zone V recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $2,371 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the most attention to flood risk given these historical claim distributions and water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
9% of Aiken County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
35 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 4 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2024, with 7 claims and $21,884 paid, the year of Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
20 NOAA storm reports from Aiken County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Carolina flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 5 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Aug 31, 2019 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 8, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
32 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 16, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $43.0M · 10 killed |
| Flash Flood | Nov 6, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 30, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 17, 2020 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 23, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 16, 2025. Thunderstorms developed in a highly unstable environment along a lingering boundary from a MCS that moved through the night before. Weak flow led to slow moving storms, propagating slowly along an outflow boundary. With precipitable water exceeding 2 inches and high soil moisture, this led to flash flooding near the Savannah River.
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Storm Helene formed in the NW Caribbean Sea on September 24. Helene moved northward into the Gulf of Mexico where it strengthened into a hurricane on September 25. Helene made landfall as a major hurricane in the Big Bend area of Florida the night of September 26 before quickly moving inland into east central Georgia by early morning on September 27. Helene weakened to a strong tropical storm and produced…
Flash Flood · Nov 6, 2024. Record setting rainfall occurred across portions of the southern Midlands as a stalled front and a deep plume of tropical moisture caused rain rates of over 2-4 per hour for over six hours. Hurricane Rafael in the Gulf of Mexico contributed to the influx of extremely anomalous moisture. Northern Orangeburg and western Calhoun counties received over 10 and the surrounding counties saw over 6 as training tropical do…
Tropical Storm · Aug 30, 2023. Lifting up out of the Big Bend of Florida, Hurricane Idalia weakened to a Tropical Storm as it moved out of southeastern Georgia. The tropical system then moved northeast along the coastal plain of South Carolina. This system produced scattered tree damage, some flooding and one confirmed tornado.
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 Aiken 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.