Lee County, South Carolina: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Lee County, South Carolina has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 36.0 out of 100, higher than about 36% of US counties, with hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $7.6 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Lee County since 1989, 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 10 tornadoes touching Lee County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for South Carolina All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 16,515 Buildings worth $2.8 billion Area 415 sq mi Risk rank in South Carolina 42 of 46 FIPS 45061
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | 85.2 | $2.6 million | about once every 4.1 years | 71 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 72.2 | $619,720 | about once every 317 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 60.1 | $1.2 million | about once every 3.8 years | 8 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 59.4 | $481,158 | about 5.2 a year | 200 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 57.4 | $48,078 | about once every 758 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 48.8 | $89,020 | about 16 a year | 539 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 46.7 | $211,954 | about 4.3 a year | 66 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 44.9 | $44,637 | about once every 1.6 years | 41 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 44.2 | $515,543 | about once every 2.4 years | 8 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 43.3 | $123,238 | about 59 a year | 60,368 strikes |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 35.9 | $100,848 | about 3.6 a year | 137 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 19.4 | $1.6 million | about once every 9.3 years | 3 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 18.3 | $10,648 | about 1.9 a year | 36 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 12.5 | $28 | about once every 11 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 23
Most common: Hurricane 14, Tropical Storm 2, Flood 2, Severe Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1990s | 3 | Hurricane ×2, Flood |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Ice Storm, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 9 | Hurricane ×6, Flood, Severe Storm, Severe Ice Storm |
| 2020s | 6 | Hurricane ×3, Tropical Storm ×2, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Lee 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: 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), Tropical Storm Frances (2004), Hurricane Floyd (1999), Hurricane Hugo (1989).
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 10
| Tornadoes touching the county | 10 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×2 |
| Peak month | September (3) |
| Deadliest | 1 Oct 1966, F2, 8.2 mi path, 0 killed, 8 injured |
| Longest path | 15 Mar 2008, EF2, 14.1 mi path |
| Most recent | 11 Jul 2010, EF0, 7 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 8 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
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 Lee County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee County (this page) | — | Very Low | 36.0 | Hurricane |
| Sumter County | 30 km | Relatively Moderate | 81.7 | Hurricane |
| Darlington County | 33 km | Relatively Low | 72.3 | Hurricane |
| Kershaw County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 66.7 | Strong wind |
| Florence County | 53 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.6 | Hurricane |
| Chesterfield County | 54 km | Relatively Low | 74.0 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in South Carolina, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 86.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 18.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.56 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $7.6 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 Lee 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
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning 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 Lee County
What natural disasters is Lee County, South Carolina most at risk from?
Lee County, South Carolina has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 36.0 out of 100, higher than about 36% of US counties, with hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $7.6 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Lee County had?
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Lee County since 1989, 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 Lee County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 10 tornadoes touching Lee County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 1 Oct 1966, F2, 8.2 mi path, 0 killed, 8 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.