693 flood insurance claims·$14.1M paid·6 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 Lexington 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 slow-moving summer thunderstorms dominates the flood character of Lexington County, accounting for 77 out of 100 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 13 general floods and 10 tropical storms. Recent events illustrate this hazard, such as the September 6, 2025 flash flood when slow-moving thunderstorms dropped 2 to 4 inches of rain in a few hours across eastern Lexington County and West Columbia. A similar urban flash flooding event occurred on August 16, 2025, driven by deep layer moisture and colliding outflow boundaries.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk Zone A properties have experienced the heaviest impact by far, registering 538 claims with an average payout of $32,494 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. However, properties outside designated high-risk zones also face documented water intrusion. Zone X properties recorded 118 claims with an average payout of $23,387 and an average recorded water depth of 19 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these flood risks, as both high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk areas have a history of damaging water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Lexington County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
570 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 13 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 2015, with 387 claims and $12.0M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding.
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.
28 NOAA storm reports from Lexington County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the South Carolina flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 6 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.
100 since 1996: 77 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 22, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 6, 2025 | $15,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $16.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2023 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2023 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 30, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 22, 2025. An upper ridge over the Southeast led to very warm temperatures. Additionally, localized surface convergence allowed isolated convection to occur. High precipitable values over 2 inches caused heavy rainfall with the convection, resulting in an isolated instance of flash flooding in Leesville, SC.
Flood · Aug 16, 2025. Upper ridging in place to the west of the area, over the central US. A MCS developed east of the ridge axis and moved through the Deep South. Deep layer moisture in place and convergence from colliding outflow boundaries led to heavy rain. This caused urban flash flooding during the night of August 15th into the 16th.
Flash Flood · Sep 6, 2025. A cluster of very slow moving thunderstorms formed across eastern Lexington county, producing several areas of impactful flash flooding in West Columbia. With anomalously high precipitable water and weak shear, the cluster of storms moved very slowly over the course of several hours and dropped between 2-4 inches of rain in a highly urban area.
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…
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 Lexington 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.