States › South Carolina › Williamsburg County

Williamsburg 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 45089 · 30,484 residents (2021) · 934 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 79Tornado · 14Flood · 23Wind · 155Winter · 16

Williamsburg 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 308 events for Williamsburg County, South Carolina, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 33.0 events per 100 square miles, below the South Carolina figure of 108.7, and 101.0 per 10,000 residents against 62.9 statewide.

2 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 1 death and 22 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $22M and crop damage at $346K.

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 118 claims since 1978, of which 88 were paid, totalling $3.4M (about $38K per paid claim). FEMA counts 97 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 Low" ($30M a year across 18 hazards).

118 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.

2events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

308events since 19501 death, 22 injuries recorded

30disaster declarationslast 23 Jan 2026

118NFIP flood claims$3.4M paid

Compared with South Carolina and the United States

Measure	Williamsburg County	South Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	308	32,670	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	33.0	108.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	101.0	62.9	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	2	677	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1	288	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$22M	$1.9B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	3.9	9.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$38K	$30K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	13.4	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: 2Wind: 4

Tornado: 2Wind: 3

Hail: 6Tornado: 1Wind: 9

Hail: 13Tornado: 4Wind: 20Drought: 1Lightning: 1

Hail: 41Tornado: 4Flood: 2Wind: 39Winter: 6Tropical: 1Drought: 6Lightning: 1Other: 2

Hail: 18Tornado: 1Flood: 20Wind: 65Winter: 6Tropical: 1Heat: 4Lightning: 2Other: 1

Hail: 1Flood: 1Wind: 15Winter: 4Tropical: 1

01950s61960s51970s161980s391990s1022000s1182010s222020s

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

Trend: 191 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 93 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

Wind155

Hail79

Flood23

Winter16

Tornado14

Drought7

Heat4

Lightning4

Tropical3

Other3

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	155	1	0.9%	detail
■ Hail	79	—	1.2%	detail
■ Flood	23	—	0.9%	detail
■ Winter	16	—	0.9%	detail
■ Tornado	14	—	1.1%	detail
■ Drought	7	—	0.8%
■ Heat	4	—	2.2%
■ Lightning	4	—	0.8%
■ Tropical	3	—	0.6%
■ Other	3	—	0.8%

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
5 Sep 1996	High Wind	Wind	46 mph	$100K	$100K	1	2	Forecast zone
7 Nov 1995	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$350K	—	—	11	County
2 Jul 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	$85K	—	—	4	County
6 May 2003	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$320K	—	—	3	County
7 Nov 1995	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$150K	—	—	1	County
15 Sep 1999	High Wind	Wind	63 mph	—	—	—	1	Forecast zone
4 Oct 2015	Flood	Flood	—	$8.0M	—	—	—	County
8 Oct 2016	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$5.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
26 Jan 2004	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$3.8M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
4 Oct 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$800K	—	—	—	County
30 Jun 2015	Lightning	Lightning	—	$500K	—	—	—	County
4 Oct 2015	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$500K	—	—	—	County
29 Aug 2004	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$400K	—	—	—	County
29 Aug 2004	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$320K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
4 May 1978	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
8 Oct 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$250K	—	—	—	County
15 Mar 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$200K	—	—	—	County
10 Jun 1998	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$72K	$100K	—	—	County
19 Jun 2005	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	—	$100K	—	—	County
3 Jun 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	64 mph	$100K	—	—	—	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-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
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
13 Feb 2004	DR-1509	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Ice Storm	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
30 Sep 1996	DR-1140	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Winds And Flooding Assoc With Hurricane Fran	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 Williamsburg County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978118

Paid claims88

Total paid$3.4M

Average paid claim$38K

Repetitive-loss properties90 severe

Residential policies in force970.5% of 19,050 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2024	1	0	$0	—
2023	2	1	$89,348	$89,348
2022	2	1	$851	$851
2020	2	2	$27,815	$13,907
2018	3	1	$1,763	$1,763
2017	3	1	$11,583	$11,583
2016	31	28	$354,238	$12,651
2015	46	40	$2,714,913	$67,873
2013	3	2	$5,314	$2,657
2010	2	2	$7,024	$3,512
2001	2	2	$5,502	$2,751
1999	1	0	$0	—
1998	5	2	$10,599	$5,300
1996	1	0	$0	—
1995	1	0	$0	—
1994	4	3	$24,262	$8,087
1993	2	0	$0	—
1989	4	3	$102,490	$34,163
1979	3	0	$0	—

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 82.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$30MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Relatively High	$14,890,583
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$5,761,169
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$4,611,660
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,143,151
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$906,089
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$772,842
Tornado	Relatively Low	$665,734
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$588,123
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$372,877
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$188,100
Hail	Relatively Low	$173,992
Drought	Relatively Low	$68,261
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$29,002
Coastal flooding	Very Low	$734
Landslide	Very Low	$75

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 miles118

Tracks within 50 miles46

Hurricane strength within 50 miles15

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Chantal	2025	40 mi	58 mph
Debby	2024	17 mi	58 mph
Idalia	2023	48 mi	58 mph
Colin	2022	24 mi	40 mph
Ian	2022	37 mi	81 mph
Elsa	2021	60 mi	46 mph
Bertha	2020	50 mi	52 mph
Isaias	2020	67 mi	92 mph
Dorian	2019	80 mi	109 mph
Florence	2018	5 mi	75 mph
Colin	2016	76 mi	52 mph
Hermine	2016	30 mi	58 mph
Matthew	2016	42 mi	92 mph
Ana	2015	54 mi	52 mph
Arthur	2014	96 mi	92 mph
Andrea	2013	29 mi	46 mph
Beryl	2012	47 mi	46 mph
Hanna	2008	55 mi	69 mph
Barry	2007	59 mi	46 mph
Alberto	2006	73 mi	40 mph
Ernesto	2006	81 mi	69 mph
Charley	2004	47 mi	81 mph
Gaston	2004	11 mi	75 mph
Kyle	2002	38 mi	40 mph
Floyd	1999	99 mi	104 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

29556 55
29554 27
29518 9

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 Williamsburg County, SC?

NCEI records 79 hail events in Williamsburg County since 1950, in 27 different years; that is about 1.0 recorded events a year. 16 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Williamsburg County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 14 tornadoes in Williamsburg County since 1950, 1 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Williamsburg 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 Williamsburg County, and how much was paid?

118 NFIP claims since 1978, 88 of them paid, for $3.4M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Williamsburg 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 Low" for expected annual loss, "Very High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

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

33.0 recorded events per 100 square miles against 108.7 statewide, and 3.9 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.