States › South Carolina › Berkeley County

Berkeley County, South Carolina

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 45015 · 236,701 residents (2021) · 1,104 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 336Tornado · 39Flood · 79Wind · 488Winter · 12

Berkeley County within South Carolina. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 1,033 storm events in Berkeley County, South Carolina, led by damaging wind.

That is 93.6 events per 100 square miles, in line with the South Carolina figure of 108.7, and 43.6 per 10,000 residents against 62.9 statewide.

14 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 8 deaths and 56 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $15M and crop damage at $57K.

FEMA has designated the county in 30 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (emergency, 23 Jan 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 619 claims since 1978, of which 439 were paid, totalling $8.8M (about $20K per paid claim). FEMA counts 5,749 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($214M a year across 18 hazards).

127 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 15 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

14events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,033events since 19508 deaths, 56 injuries recorded

30disaster declarationslast 23 Jan 2026

619NFIP flood claims$8.8M paid

Compared with South Carolina and the United States

Measure	Berkeley County	South Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,033	32,670	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	93.6	108.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	43.6	62.9	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	14	677	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	8	288	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$15M	$1.9B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.6	9.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$20K	$30K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	2.4	6.9	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 2

Hail: 1Tornado: 4Wind: 1

Wind: 5

Hail: 24Wind: 29

Hail: 35Tornado: 8Flood: 10Wind: 45Tropical: 4Heat: 3Cold: 1Drought: 3

Hail: 145Tornado: 16Flood: 31Wind: 135Winter: 4Tropical: 5Heat: 4Cold: 1Drought: 18Lightning: 8Other: 10

Hail: 88Tornado: 3Flood: 24Wind: 199Winter: 8Lightning: 12Other: 4

Hail: 43Tornado: 6Flood: 14Wind: 74Lightning: 6

21950s61960s51970s531980s1091990s3772000s3382010s1432020s

Recorded events in Berkeley County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 722 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 261 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind488

Hail336

Flood79

Tornado39

Lightning26

Drought21

Other14

Winter12

Tropical9

Heat7

Cold2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	488	3	2.8%	detail
■ Hail	336	—	5.0%	detail
■ Flood	79	1	3.1%	detail
■ Tornado	39	1	3.0%	detail
■ Lightning	26	1	5.0%
■ Drought	21	—	2.5%
■ Other	14	—	3.8%
■ Winter	12	—	0.7%	detail
■ Tropical	9	—	1.7%
■ Heat	7	2	3.8%
■ Cold	2	—	0.9%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
12 Nov 2006	Strong Wind	Wind	29 mph	$10K	—	2	—	Forecast zone
1 Aug 1999	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
10 May 1998	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$5.0M	—	1	7	County
19 Aug 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	$2K	—	1	5	County
30 Jun 2004	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	1	County
22 Sep 2000	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$25K	—	1	—	County
3 Sep 1998	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.8M	—	—	9	County
15 Mar 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$150K	—	—	7	County
4 Jun 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	—	—	—	6	County
13 Apr 2020	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	—	—	—	6	County
1 Oct 1989	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	2	County
26 Jul 2010	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	2	County
30 Aug 2023	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	—	—	—	2	County
6 Aug 2024	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	—	—	—	2	County
13 Jun 2006	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$20K	—	—	1	County
21 Jun 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	$20K	—	—	1	County
20 Feb 1956	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$3K	—	—	1	County
27 Jun 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	49 mph	$500	—	—	1	County
27 May 2006	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
26 Jul 2010	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
23 Jan 2026	EM-3632	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
29 Sep 2024	DR-4835	Major disaster	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	Public assistance
29 Sep 2024	DR-4829	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	Public assistance
26 Sep 2024	EM-3619	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Helene	Public assistance
5 Aug 2024	EM-3606	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Debby	Public assistance
31 Aug 2023	EM-3597	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Idalia	Public assistance
21 Nov 2022	DR-4677	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ian	Public assistance
29 Sep 2022	EM-3585	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Ian	Public assistance
1 May 2020	DR-4542	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	Individual assistance
27 Mar 2020	DR-4492	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3470	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
30 Sep 2019	DR-4464	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	Public assistance
1 Sep 2019	EM-3421	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	Public assistance
16 Sep 2018	DR-4394	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Public assistance
10 Sep 2018	EM-3400	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Public assistance
16 Oct 2017	DR-4346	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
7 Sep 2017	EM-3386	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
11 Oct 2016	DR-4286	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Matthew	Individual assistance, Public assistance
6 Oct 2016	EM-3378	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Matthew	Public assistance
5 Oct 2015	DR-4241	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Oct 2015	EM-3373	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
12 Mar 2014	DR-4166	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
12 Feb 2014	EM-3369	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
10 Sep 2005	EM-3233	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
7 Oct 2004	DR-1566	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Frances	Individual assistance
15 Sep 2004	DR-1547	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Gaston	Public assistance
31 Jan 2000	DR-1313	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
21 Sep 1999	DR-1299	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Sep 1999	EM-3145	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations	Public assistance
22 Sep 1989	DR-843	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Hugo	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Berkeley County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978619

Paid claims439

Total paid$8.8M

Average paid claim$20K

Repetitive-loss properties717 severe

Residential policies in force5,7497.2% of 80,127 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	1	$42,594	$42,594
2025	1	0	$0	—
2024	40	34	$1,486,943	$43,734
2023	6	3	$19,256	$6,419
2022	5	3	$25,887	$8,629
2021	26	20	$315,939	$15,797
2020	6	4	$75,172	$18,793
2019	3	1	$2,289	$2,289
2018	10	6	$85,602	$14,267
2017	41	30	$550,260	$18,342
2016	110	90	$2,774,983	$30,833
2015	179	135	$2,545,353	$18,854
2014	3	1	$16,843	$16,843
2013	11	5	$71,280	$14,256
2012	1	0	$0	—
2011	1	1	$4,576	$4,576
2010	1	0	$0	—
2009	3	2	$27,777	$13,888
2008	21	18	$149,629	$8,313
2005	1	1	$5,116	$5,116
2004	5	3	$80,514	$26,838
2003	3	2	$2,400	$1,200
2002	7	5	$22,478	$4,496
2001	1	0	$0	—
2000	2	2	$11,579	$5,789

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Highscore 94.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$214MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Very High	$116,404,510
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$53,200,349
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$25,456,165
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$4,539,469
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,977,139
Coastal flooding	Relatively Moderate	$2,534,196
Wildfire	Relatively Moderate	$1,716,163
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,397,219
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$1,376,349
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$1,163,853
Ice storm	Relatively High	$941,125
Hail	Relatively Low	$613,700
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$218,988
Drought	Very Low	$7,164
Landslide	Very Low	$1,849

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles127

Tracks within 50 miles47

Hurricane strength within 50 miles15

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Chantal	2025	61 mi	58 mph
Debby	2024	25 mi	58 mph
Idalia	2023	64 mi	58 mph
Colin	2022	15 mi	40 mph
Ian	2022	44 mi	81 mph
Danny	2021	70 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	75 mi	46 mph
Bertha	2020	26 mi	52 mph
Isaias	2020	57 mi	92 mph
Eta	2020	90 mi	46 mph
Dorian	2019	70 mi	115 mph
Florence	2018	29 mi	69 mph
Colin	2016	84 mi	52 mph
Hermine	2016	51 mi	58 mph
Julia	2016	91 mi	46 mph
Matthew	2016	30 mi	98 mph
Ana	2015	78 mi	52 mph
Arthur	2014	98 mi	92 mph
Andrea	2013	25 mi	46 mph
Beryl	2012	56 mi	46 mph
Cristobal	2008	87 mi	40 mph
Hanna	2008	68 mi	69 mph
Barry	2007	28 mi	46 mph
Alberto	2006	87 mi	40 mph
Ernesto	2006	90 mi	69 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

29410 248
29445 120
29461 103
29492 44
29450 40
29486 21

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Berkeley County, SC?

NCEI records 336 hail events in Berkeley County since 1950, in 43 different years; that is about 4.4 recorded events a year. 43 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Berkeley County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 39 tornadoes in Berkeley County since 1950, 3 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 1.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Berkeley County?

23 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 30 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Berkeley County, and how much was paid?

619 NFIP claims since 1978, 439 of them paid, for $8.8M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Berkeley County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively High" for overall risk, "Relatively High" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Berkeley County compare with the rest of South Carolina?

93.6 recorded events per 100 square miles against 108.7 statewide, and 2.6 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 9.6. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.