113 flood insurance claims·$2.6M paid·7 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 Jasper 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 floods and tropical storms dominate the flood history of Jasper County, accounting for 40 of the 46 total events recorded in the NOAA Storm Events Database over the last 30 years, alongside 4 tropical depressions and 2 hurricanes. Recent impacts are exemplified by Tropical Storm Debby in August 2024 and Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024, both of which originated in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico before bringing severe weather inland.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims are distributed across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 57 claims with an average payout of $32,472 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone X recorded 36 claims with an average payout of $27,089 and an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED logged 19 claims averaging $29,375 with an average water depth of 2 inches. One claim was recorded in Zone UNKNOWN with an average payout of $503 and an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and Zone X, which have experienced the highest volume of insurance claims and documented water depths during flooding events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Jasper County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
76 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 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 2016, with 39 claims and $1.3M paid, the year of Hurricane Matthew.
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.
24 NOAA storm reports from Jasper 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, 7 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 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Aug 31, 2019 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 8, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
46 since 1996: 21 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | $930,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 6, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 5, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 29, 2022 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Sep 4, 2019 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 4, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 2024. Helene first developed into a tropical storm in the northwest Caribbean Sea in the late morning of September 24, and strengthened into a hurricane near the Yucatan peninsula about 24 hours later. Helene continued to strengthen and became a major hurricane as it moved to the north-northeast across the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida in the late evening hours of Septemb…
Flash Flood · Aug 6, 2024. Debby first developed into a tropical storm about 100 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida late afternoon on August 3rd, then gradually strengthened to a strong tropical storm while tracking north across the eastern Gulf of Mexico on August 4th. Debby then reached hurricane force strength late on August 4th about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, before continuing a north-northeast track across the eastern G…
Tropical Storm · Aug 5, 2024. Debby first developed into a tropical storm about 100 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida late afternoon on August 3rd, then gradually strengthened to a strong tropical storm while tracking north across the eastern Gulf of Mexico on August 4th. Debby then reached hurricane force strength late on August 4th about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, before continuing a north-northeast track across the eastern G…
Tropical Storm · Aug 30, 2023. Idalia first developed into a tropical depression across the western Caribbean Sea near the Yucatan Peninsula on August 26th before slowly gaining strength and becoming a tropical storm on August 27th. The storm then began to take a northward track the next day, passing the western tip of Cuba while gaining strength. On August 29th, Idalia was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane early in the morning, then intensifi…
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 Jasper 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.