Beaufort County, South Carolina: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Beaufort County, South Carolina has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 97.1 out of 100, higher than about 97% of US counties, with hurricanes, lightning and coastal flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $256 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Beaufort County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3632-SC (Severe Winter Storm, declared 23 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 33 tornadoes touching Beaufort County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for South Carolina All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 186,606 Buildings worth $46 billion Area 933 sq mi Risk rank in South Carolina 3 of 46 FIPS 45013
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Very High | 99.5 | $201 million | about once every 2.9 years | 113 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 96.2 | $2.1 million | about 63 a year | 289,825 strikes |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively High | 94.2 | $9.8 million | about 3.7 a year | — |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 93.6 | $9.8 million | about once every 275 years | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | 90.3 | $1.4 million | about once every 847 years | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 88.0 | $747,411 | about once every 1.6 years | 35 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 87.9 | $2.5 million | about 1 a year | 170 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 86.3 | $1.6 million | about 1.6 a year | 48 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 82.0 | $4.2 million | about once every 3.0 years | 21 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 80.8 | $20 million | about once every 1.1 years | 26 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 73.5 | $2.4 million | about once every 1.6 years | 12 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 69.9 | $124,296 | about once every 1.2 years | 16 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 68.6 | $507,438 | about 2.3 a year | 103 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 43.4 | $86,875 | about 22 a year | 686 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 25.9 | $202 | about once every 9.9 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 22
Most common: Hurricane 14, Tropical Storm 3, Winter Storm 1, Flood 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Drought |
| 1990s | 2 | Hurricane ×2 |
| 2000s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 2010s | 10 | Hurricane ×7, Flood, Severe Storm, Severe Ice Storm |
| 2020s | 8 | Hurricane ×4, Tropical Storm ×3, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Beaufort County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3632-SC): 46 South Carolina counties designated.
- Hurricane Helene (2024, EM-3619-SC): 46 South Carolina counties designated.
- Hurricane Debby (2024, EM-3606-SC): 46 South Carolina counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Tropical Storm Debby (2024), Hurricane Helene (2024), Hurricane Debby (2024), Hurricane Idalia (2023), Hurricane Ian (2022), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Hurricane Florence (2018), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Matthew (2016), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Floyd (1999).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. South Carolina also had 2 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 33
| Tornadoes touching the county | 33 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (11) |
| Deadliest | 3 Sep 1998, F2, 18 mi path, 1 killed, 4 injured |
| Longest path | 3 Sep 1998, F2, 18 mi path, 1 killed, 4 injured |
| Most recent | 26 Sep 2024, EF0, 6.5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 1 / 5 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 21 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 7 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Beaufort County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 97.1 | Hurricane |
| Jasper County | 28 km | Relatively Low | 78.6 | Hurricane |
| Colleton County | 54 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.5 | Hurricane |
| Chatham County, GA | 56 km | Relatively High | 97.4 | Hurricane |
| Effingham County, GA | 57 km | Relatively Low | 59.1 | Hurricane |
| Hampton County | 57 km | Relatively Low | 64.8 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in South Carolina, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 44.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 66.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.08 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $256 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Beaufort County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for South Carolina · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Lightning: Weather alerts for South Carolina
- Coastal flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Hurricanes and storms now
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Beaufort County
What natural disasters is Beaufort County, South Carolina most at risk from?
Beaufort County, South Carolina has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 97.1 out of 100, higher than about 97% of US counties, with hurricanes, lightning and coastal flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $256 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Beaufort County had?
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Beaufort County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3632-SC (Severe Winter Storm, declared 23 January 2026). Another 2 South Carolina declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Beaufort County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 33 tornadoes touching Beaufort County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 3 Sep 1998, F2, 18 mi path, 1 killed, 4 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.