5 flood insurance claims·$9,562 paid·11 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 Calhoun 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.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 3 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 1989, with 1 claims and $6,367 paid, the year of Hurricane Hugo.
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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Calhoun County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Carolina flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Nov 6, 2024 |
| 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
14 since 1996: 8 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $1.2M |
| Flash Flood | Nov 6, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 30, 2022 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 10, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 8, 2016 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 8, 2016 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jun 5, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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.
Tropical Storm · Sep 30, 2022. Ian first formed as Tropical Depression Nine in the Caribbean Sea on September 23,|2022. It moved west and northwest into the Western Caribbean and strengthened|into a hurricane. The cyclone turned to the north and crossed over the western tip|of Cuba on September 27th.||Ian strengthened into a major hurricane and moved NNE across the SE Gulf of Mexico,|and intensified into a high end category 4 hurricane, makin…
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 Calhoun 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.