122 flood insurance claims·$972,587 paid·9 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 Kershaw 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 and tropical systems dominates the flood risk profile in Kershaw County, which recorded 13 flash flood events, 5 tropical storms, and 4 general floods over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include a flash flood event driven by an unstable atmosphere and slow-moving storms on August 3, 2024, as well as significant tropical weather systems such as Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024, Hurricane Ian in September 2022, and Hurricane Florence in September 2018.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood claims have been filed across multiple zones, with the highest concentration in high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 96 claims with an average payout of $13,542 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. Meanwhile, moderate- and low-risk zones also experience water damage; Zone X recorded 16 claims with an average payout of $10,580 and an average water depth of 20 inches, Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 4 claims with an average payout of $3,774 and an average water depth of 8 inches, Zone V recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $6,430 and an average water depth of 3 inches, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $7,139 and an average water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these flood risks given their historical claim frequencies and recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Kershaw County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
106 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 15 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 34 claims and $419,438 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.
6 NOAA storm reports from Kershaw County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Carolina flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 9 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.
22 since 1996: 13 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $2.0M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 30, 2022 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 15, 2018 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 14, 2018 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 11, 2018 | — |
| Flood | May 19, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2015 | $20,000 · 1 killed |
— = 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 · Aug 3, 2024. An upper trough and frontal boundary was approaching the region from the west. The atmosphere was quite unstable with surface based CAPE around 3000-4000 J/kg, 3000 J/kg of mixed layer CAPE. Wind shear was relatively weak with effective bulk shear less than 25 knots and atmospheric moisture was high with precipitable water values around 2 inches and dewpoints in the mid to upper 70s. Relatively weak wind shear com…
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…
Tropical Storm · Sep 15, 2018. Hurricane Florence began as an area of disturbed weather that moved west off the African coast around August 29-30, 2018. It gradually developed into a tropical cyclone on August 31, 2018 while just south of the Cape Verde islands. The cyclone continued to move to the WNW across the Atlantic Ocean in the ensuing two weeks, undergoing fluctuations in intensity. The cyclone reorganized and strengthened into a cat…
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 Kershaw 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.