States › South Carolina › Greenville County

Greenville 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 45045 · 533,834 residents (2021) · 786 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 429Tornado · 37Flood · 104Wind · 579Winter · 0

Greenville 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.

The NCEI record lists 1,181 events for Greenville County, South Carolina, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 150.3 events per 100 square miles, above the South Carolina figure of 108.7, and 22.1 per 10,000 residents against 62.9 statewide.

5 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 5 deaths and 43 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $33M.

FEMA has designated the county in 26 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (major disaster, 7 Apr 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 857 claims since 1978, of which 676 were paid, totalling $15M (about $22K per paid claim). FEMA counts 1,013 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Moderate" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Moderate" ($169M a year across 18 hazards).

23 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

5events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,181events since 19505 deaths, 43 injuries recorded

26disaster declarationslast 7 Apr 2026

857NFIP flood claims$15M paid

Compared with South Carolina and the United States

Measure	Greenville County	South Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,181	32,670	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	150.3	108.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	22.1	62.9	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	5	677	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	5	288	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$33M	$1.9B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.6	9.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$22K	$30K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	26.8	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

Hail: 1Tornado: 2Wind: 4

Hail: 3Tornado: 6Wind: 6

Hail: 3Tornado: 4Wind: 24

Hail: 20Tornado: 2Wind: 57

Hail: 83Tornado: 6Flood: 19Wind: 115Lightning: 4Other: 2

Hail: 125Tornado: 3Flood: 39Wind: 127Lightning: 6Other: 11

Hail: 157Tornado: 9Flood: 32Wind: 170Lightning: 2Other: 6

Hail: 37Tornado: 5Flood: 14Wind: 76Lightning: 1

71950s151960s311970s791980s2291990s3112000s3762010s1332020s

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

Trend: 647 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 439 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

Wind579

Hail429

Flood104

Tornado37

Other19

Lightning13

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	579	3	3.3%	detail
■ Hail	429	—	6.4%	detail
■ Flood	104	2	4.1%	detail
■ Tornado	37	—	2.8%	detail
■ Other	19	—	5.1%
■ Lightning	13	—	2.5%

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
9 Aug 2014	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.5M	—	2	—	County
15 Mar 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$100K	—	1	3	County
1 Jun 1991	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	—	—	1	—	County
20 Aug 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	1	—	County
27 May 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	—	17	County
24 Mar 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	5	County
10 Apr 1990	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	98 mph	—	—	—	4	County
26 Jul 1984	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	3	County
27 May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	3	County
23 Mar 1979	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	2	County
25 May 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	—	—	—	2	County
21 Jul 1994	Hail	Hail	0.75 in	—	—	—	1	County
2 May 2003	Hail	Hail	0.75 in	—	—	—	1	County
21 Jun 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	—	—	—	1	County
11 May 2018	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
25 Apr 2020	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$5.0M	—	—	—	County
29 Jul 2004	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$3.5M	—	—	—	County
13 Apr 1980	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
4 Apr 1989	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
6 Feb 2020	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	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
7 Apr 2026	DR-4908	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
23 Jan 2026	EM-3632	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
23 Mar 2025	FM-5576	Fire management assistance	Fire	Table Rock Fire Complex	Public assistance
29 Sep 2024	DR-4829	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	Individual assistance, 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
27 Mar 2020	DR-4492	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Mar 2020	DR-4479	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3470	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
1 Sep 2019	EM-3421	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	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
12 Nov 2016	FM-5162	Fire management assistance	Fire	Pinnacle Mountain Fire	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
3 Oct 2015	EM-3373	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
12 Feb 2014	EM-3369	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
20 Jan 2006	DR-1625	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Ice 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
8 Jan 2003	DR-1451	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Ice Storm	Public assistance
4 Aug 1977	EM-3047	Emergency	Drought	Drought	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 Greenville County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978857

Paid claims676

Total paid$15M

Average paid claim$22K

Repetitive-loss properties5410 severe

Residential policies in force1,0130.6% of 180,224 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	1	1	$3,664	$3,664
2024	176	151	$4,722,968	$31,278
2023	11	8	$124,477	$15,560
2022	3	2	$11,901	$5,951
2021	4	2	$25,261	$12,631
2020	53	40	$1,025,632	$25,641
2019	4	4	$44,770	$11,193
2018	10	6	$97,911	$16,318
2017	9	7	$77,164	$11,023
2016	4	2	$35,132	$17,566
2015	11	5	$33,667	$6,733
2014	53	38	$1,224,009	$32,211
2013	53	41	$980,154	$23,906
2012	1	1	$3,714	$3,714
2011	1	0	$0	—
2010	4	2	$42,299	$21,150
2009	7	5	$43,199	$8,640
2007	3	3	$17,079	$5,693
2006	2	2	$18,066	$9,033
2005	49	42	$444,505	$10,583
2004	73	68	$3,167,907	$46,587
2003	26	21	$143,432	$6,830
2002	32	28	$419,751	$14,991
2000	2	2	$4,822	$2,411
1999	16	7	$178,468	$25,495

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 Moderatescore 94.0 of 100

Expected annual loss$169MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$104,453,044
Tornado	Relatively High	$19,584,753
Cold wave	Relatively High	$14,971,691
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$9,498,007
Ice storm	Very High	$6,279,422
Lightning	Very High	$3,827,010
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$3,489,850
Strong wind	Relatively High	$2,249,293
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$2,190,110
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$2,115,682
Drought	Relatively Low	$148,728
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$91,008
Wildfire	Very Low	$72,513
Landslide	Relatively Low	$16,589

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 miles23

Tracks within 50 miles7

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Helene	2024	58 mi	52 mph
Zeta	2020	75 mi	52 mph
Michael	2018	67 mi	52 mph
Hugo	1989	79 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1965	84 mi	40 mph
Gracie	1959	61 mi	52 mph
Able	1952	96 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	17 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1946	87 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1927	89 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	20 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	76 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1912	83 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1907	38 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1906	64 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	24 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1901	23 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	100 mi	86 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	70 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1889	60 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1886	76 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1882	31 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1859	42 mi	46 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

29615 267
29617 88
29662 87
29607 64
29681 57
29687 49
29611 44
29601 40
29605 37
29609 30
29650 29
29680 21
29661 17
29651 13
29606 8
29356 7
29690 6
29644 5

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 Greenville County, SC?

NCEI records 429 hail events in Greenville County since 1950, in 47 different years; that is about 5.6 recorded events a year. 61 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Greenville County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 37 tornadoes in Greenville County since 1950, 8 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Greenville County?

7 Apr 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a major disaster declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 26 declarations since 1953.

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

857 NFIP claims since 1978, 676 of them paid, for $15M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

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

150.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 108.7 statewide, and 1.6 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.