Natural hazards · Saluda

Saluda, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Saluda comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Saluda?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Saluda to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding55%Tornadoes11%Cold waves10%Ice storms6%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Saluda faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

55% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Saluda flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Saluda.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Saluda isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Polk County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

6flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Saluda

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Saluda itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Saluda.

Brought FEMA money into SaludaDeclared for Polk County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

784 households applied for aid $1.9M aid approved $808K to the City of Saluda for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

13 households applied for aid $6K aid approved $15K to the City of Saluda for repairs

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

5 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $798K to the City of Saluda for repairs

Polk County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Saluda is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Saluda’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Saluda. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.