4,748 flood insurance claims·$114.4M 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 Georgetown 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 heavy rainfall events and nor'easters dominates the flood history of Georgetown County, accounting for 46 recorded events and 1 death over the last 30 years, alongside 14 general floods, 12 tropical storms, 3 coastal floods, 2 hurricanes, and 1 storm surge event.
Recent weather impacts are documented in the NOAA Storm Events Database. In October 2025, a coastal nor'easter tapped into tropical moisture, producing very heavy rain and flash flooding across the area. Additionally, in August 2024, Tropical Storm Debby impacted the region after making landfall along the central South Carolina coast between Charleston and Georgetown, bringing significant weather effects to northeastern South Carolina.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with high concentrations in high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 3,311 claims with an average payout of $31,216 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone V includes 962 claims averaging $37,003 with an average water depth of 5 inches. Zone X accounts for 379 claims with an average payout of $27,106 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists working with properties in Zone A and Zone V should pay the closest attention to flood risk and insurance requirements.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Georgetown County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
4,336 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 6 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 1,746 claims and $57.3M 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.
35 NOAA storm reports from Georgetown County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Carolina flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1989, 11 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 |
| Tropical Storm 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
78 since 1996: 46 flash floods, 14 river or area floods and 4 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 7, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 6, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 6, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Oct 12, 2025. A nor'easter developed off the South Carolina coast. The low was able to tap into tropical moisture leading to very heavy rain and flash flooding.
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall along the Gulf Coast of FL in the Big Bend and weakened to a tropical storm before reaching central GA. The storm then turned northwest across the southern Appalachians before weakening to a tropical depression over eastern TN. Tropical Storm Warnings were issued for all of northeast SC. Limited impacts generally occurred across northeast SC.
Flash Flood · Aug 9, 2024. After making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on August 5, Debby weakened to a tropical storm as it slowly moved across southeastern Georgia and offshore before making another landfall along the central SC coast between Charleston and Georgetown. The storm then moved northwest to near the SC/NC border and weakened to a tropical depression on August 8 before quickly becoming a non-…
Tropical Storm · Aug 7, 2024. After making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on August 5, Debby weakened to a tropical storm as it slowly moved across southeastern Georgia and offshore before making another landfall along the central SC coast between Charleston and Georgetown. The storm then moved northwest to near the SC/NC border and weakened to a tropical depression on August 8 before quickly becoming a non-…
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 Georgetown 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.