Pickens County, South Carolina: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Thunderstorm Wind, with 246 records.
- The costliest single record is Tornado in 1998: $3.0M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Thunderstorm Wind in 2019, with 2 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 26 disasters that named this county, most often for hurricane.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 2024, with 13 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 26 disasters that named Pickens County between 1977 and 2026.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | 11 | 2024 |
| Fire | 3 | 2025 |
| Severe Storm | 3 | 2020 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Severe Ice Storm | 2 | 2014 |
| Tropical Storm | 2 | 2024 |
| Winter Storm | 2 | 2026 |
| Drought | 1 | 1977 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4908 2026 · Winter Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- EM-3632 2026 · Winter Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- FM-5576 2025 · Fire · Table Rock Fire Complex
- FM-5575 2025 · Fire · Table Rock Fire
- DR-4829 2024 · Hurricane · Hurricane Helene
- EM-3619 2024 · Tropical Storm · Hurricane Helene
- EM-3606 2024 · Tropical Storm · Hurricane Debby
- EM-3597 2023 · Hurricane · Hurricane Idalia
- EM-3585 2022 · Hurricane · Hurricane Ian
- DR-4677 2022 · Hurricane · Hurricane Ian
Not counted above: 2 statewide declarations, which covered every county in South Carolina. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 246 | 2 | 4 | $807K |
| Hail | 138 | 0 | 0 | $100K |
| Drought | 34 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 31 | 2 | 3 | $2.9M |
| Tornado | 23 | 0 | 28 | $6.0M |
| Winter Weather | 14 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Snow | 11 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 9 | 0 | 0 | $15K |
| Heavy Rain | 8 | 0 | 0 | $11K |
| Flood | 7 | 0 | 0 | $511K |
| Dense Fog | 6 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Lightning | 6 | 0 | 1 | $61K |
| Sleet | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Strong Wind | 4 | 0 | 0 | $5K |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Ice Storm | 2 | 0 | 0 | $3.1M |
| Winter Storm | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Pickens County each year. The busiest year was 1998, with 40 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 18 | 0 | $75K |
| 1997 | 25 | 0 | $10K |
| 1998 | 40 | 1 | $3.1M |
| 1999 | 26 | 0 | $3.1M |
| 2000 | 31 | 0 | $0 |
| 2001 | 29 | 0 | $5K |
| 2002 | 11 | 0 | $13K |
| 2003 | 32 | 0 | $817K |
| 2004 | 8 | 0 | $6K |
| 2005 | 17 | 0 | $456K |
| 2006 | 22 | 0 | $80K |
| 2007 | 15 | 0 | $50K |
| 2008 | 14 | 0 | $0 |
| 2009 | 25 | 0 | $20K |
| 2010 | 25 | 0 | $1.5M |
| 2011 | 24 | 0 | $0 |
| 2012 | 25 | 0 | $10K |
| 2013 | 18 | 1 | $450K |
| 2014 | 14 | 0 | $200K |
| 2015 | 7 | 0 | $10K |
| 2016 | 8 | 0 | $30K |
| 2017 | 19 | 0 | $381K |
| 2018 | 13 | 0 | $11K |
| 2019 | 10 | 2 | $63K |
| 2020 | 14 | 0 | $2.2M |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | $35K |
| 2022 | 9 | 0 | $275K |
| 2023 | 20 | 0 | $203K |
| 2024 | 16 | 0 | $336K |
| 2025 | 11 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Tornado · Jan 7, 1998$3.0MNOAA name: PICKENS · 4 injuries · NOAA record 5627425
- Ice Storm · Jan 2, 1999$1.5MNOAA name: NORTHERN PICKENS · NOAA record 5680780
- Ice Storm · Jan 2, 1999$1.5MNOAA name: SOUTHERN PICKENS · NOAA record 5680783
- Tornado · Nov 30, 2010$1.5MNOAA name: PICKENS · NOAA record 268819
- Flash Flood · Feb 6, 2020$1.5MNOAA name: PICKENS · NOAA record 874601
Deadliest records
- Thunderstorm Wind · Jul 18, 20192 deathsNOAA name: PICKENS · $50K damage · 2 injuries · NOAA record 847952
- Flash Flood · Jan 7, 19981 deathNOAA name: PICKENS · $50K damage · 3 injuries · NOAA record 5627426
- Flash Flood · Aug 6, 20131 deathNOAA name: PICKENS · $50K damage · NOAA record 473380
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $1.7M on 62 claims in Pickens County from 1979 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 13 | $1.0M |
| 2004 | 7 | $192K |
| 2013 | 5 | $5K |
| 2020 | 4 | $137K |
| 1995 | 4 | $50K |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in Pickens County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2025 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 3 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 30 years. 13 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 390 NCEI events over 30 years (13.00/yr). 3 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 46 NCEI events over 30 years (1.53/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 34 NCEI events over 30 years (1.13/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Drought | 3 | 34 NCEI events over 30 years (1.13/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 3 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 30 years. 3 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 23 NCEI events over 30 years (0.77/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 2 | 4 NCEI events over 30 years (0.13/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 2 | 13 NCEI events over 30 years (0.43/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 30 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 30 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 30 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in Pickens County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events by county and others by forecast zone, and names both. Records are counted as Pickens County when their NOAA name is this county's name, alone or with a word like “Coastal” or “Inland” in front. The county codes NOAA also publishes have not been loaded for South Carolina yet; when they are, this page will count by code instead, and some counties' records will grow. NOAA names counted here: NORTHERN PICKENS, PICKENS, SOUTHERN PICKENS. Zones named for something else, such as a mountain range or two counties at once, are left out: 3% of South Carolina's NOAA records.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
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Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.