States › South Carolina › 2003

South Carolina, 2003

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

789events recorded722 in 2002

1deaths recorded44 injuries

$6.8Mproperty damage (estimates)

1disaster declarations177 NFIP claims, $1.2M paid

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.

Events by hazard

Wind383

Hail176

Flood101

Winter67

Lightning25

Tornado20

Other17

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 2003 was 789 against 722 in 2002.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 2003
Greenville County	38
Spartanburg County	37
Anderson County	33
Lexington County	32
Pickens County	32
York County	31
Cherokee County	27
Berkeley County	26
Oconee County	22
Colleton County	21
Laurens County	21
Orangeburg County	21
Richland County	21
Dorchester County	19
Union County	18
Aiken County	17
Horry County	17
Abbeville County	16
Lancaster County	16
Saluda County	16
Charleston County	15
Chester County	15
Florence County	14
Dillon County	13
Chesterfield County	12

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
17 Feb 2003	Marlboro	Ice Storm	—	$30,000	1	2
16 Feb 2003	Lancaster	Ice Storm	—	—	—	8
17 Feb 2003	Fairfield	Ice Storm	—	—	—	6
2 Jul 2003	Williamsburg	Thunderstorm Wind	81 mph	$85,000	—	4
22 Feb 2003	Aiken	Thunderstorm Wind	63 mph	$1,000	—	4
17 Feb 2003	Newberry	Ice Storm	—	—	—	4
6 May 2003	Williamsburg	Tornado	F1	$320,000	—	3
23 Feb 2003	Forecast zone	Strong Wind	52 mph	$50,000	—	2
17 Feb 2003	Chesterfield	Ice Storm	—	—	—	2
17 Feb 2003	Kershaw	Ice Storm	—	—	—	2
2 May 2003	Pickens	Tornado	F1	$250,000	—	1
2 May 2003	Spartanburg	Thunderstorm Wind	75 mph	$50,000	—	1
18 Apr 2003	Spartanburg	Flood	—	$25,000	—	1
2 May 2003	Greenville	Hail	0.75 in	—	—	1
3 May 2003	Spartanburg	Lightning	—	—	—	1
4 Jul 2003	Calhoun	Lightning	—	—	—	1
4 Jul 2003	Orangeburg	Lightning	—	—	—	1
20 Mar 2003	Spartanburg	Flood	—	$1,000,000	—	—
20 Mar 2003	Forecast zone	Flood	—	$1,000,000	—	—
16 Aug 2003	Greenville	Thunderstorm Wind	75 mph	$300,000	—	—
18 Jun 2003	Anderson	Flash Flood	—	$250,000	—	—
13 Jul 2003	Pickens	Tornado	F1	$200,000	—	—
13 Jul 2003	Pickens	Tornado	F1	$200,000	—	—
20 Mar 2003	Forecast zone	Flood	—	$200,000	—	—
21 Jul 2003	Richland	Lightning	—	$175,000	—	—
13 Jul 2003	Pickens	Hail	1.75 in	$100,000	—	—
13 Jul 2003	Anderson	Hail	1.50 in	$100,000	—	—
4 Aug 2003	Greenville	Lightning	—	$100,000	—	—
23 Jan 2003	Darlington	Winter Weather	—	$100,000	—	—
6 Mar 2003	Anderson	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
20 Mar 2003	York	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
2 May 2003	Cherokee	Thunderstorm Wind	81 mph	$100,000	—	—
3 May 2003	Spartanburg	Hail	1.00 in	$100,000	—	—
18 Apr 2003	Union	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
2 May 2003	Spartanburg	Thunderstorm Wind	86 mph	$100,000	—	—
23 Jul 2003	Horry	Thunderstorm Wind	78 mph	$100,000	—	—
6 May 2003	McCormick	Thunderstorm Wind	75 mph	$80,000	—	—
2 Jul 2003	Williamsburg	Tornado	F1	$75,000	—	—
22 Feb 2003	Richland	Lightning	—	$70,000	—	—
18 Jun 2003	Lexington	Lightning	—	$55,000	—	—

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 2003

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
8 Jan 2003	DR-1451	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Ice Storm	6

Flood insurance claims with a 2003 date of loss

177 NFIP claims, 102 of them paid, for $1,198,120.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (29 Sep 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 30 Sep 2026.