158 flood insurance claims·$2.6M 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 Spartanburg 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 driven by severe weather and tropical systems dominates the flood character of Spartanburg County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 44 flash flood events causing 2 deaths, alongside 20 general flood events and 2 tropical storm events resulting in 4 deaths. Significant flooding occurred in September 2024 when Tropical Cyclone Helene interacted with a slow-moving cold front, producing widespread heavy rain showers and thunderstorms across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Properties in Zone X recorded 77 claims with an average payout of $26,512 and an average recorded water depth of 34 inches. Zone A accounted for 43 claims with an average payout of $30,832 and an average water depth of 20 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X_UNSHADED (21 claims, averaging $18,846 and 7 inches), Zone X_SHADED (10 claims, averaging $5,489 and 3 inches), and unknown zones (5 claims, averaging $3,625 and 1 inch).
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in standard moderate-to-low risk areas as well as high-risk flood zones, given that significant water depths and insurance claims have been documented across both Zone X and Zone A.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
41% of Spartanburg 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 22 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 37 claims and $1.3M 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.
18 NOAA storm reports from Spartanburg 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Feb 6, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Aug 31, 2019 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 8, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
66 since 1996: 44 flash floods and 20 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $30,000 · 1 killed |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $10.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $25.0M · 4 killed |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2024 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A major/complex frontal system brought widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms to upstate South Carolina, mainly during the late morning and afternoon of the 9th. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches (with locally higher amounts) in around 12 hours resulted in numerous reports of flooding. Isolated severe thunderstorms also resulted in a a few damaging wind gusts reports over the Piedmont.
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 Spartanburg 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.