Natural hazards · Beech Island

Beech Island, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Beech Island comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Beech Island?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Beech Island to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding44%Hurricanes16%Tornadoes13%Earthquakes8%Everything else20%

By hazard

What Beech Island faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 13% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hurricanes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 85 years in the area

Earthquakes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Beech Island flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Aiken County.

Disasters that hit Beech Island

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Beech Island itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Beech Island.

Brought FEMA money into Beech IslandDeclared for Aiken County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

2,597 households applied for aid $2.9M aid approved

2020

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

11 households applied for aid

Aiken County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Beech Island

Beech Island and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Beech Islandmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Beech Island 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 Beech Island’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Beech Island. 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.