Natural hazards · Berea

Berea, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Berea comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 17 claims here since 1995. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Berea?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Berea to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding46%Tornadoes15%Cold waves15%Earthquakes9%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Berea faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Earthquakes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Berea flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Berea, from FEMA’s records.

17paid claims since 1995

$153Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19952026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 7 claims, $91K
Hurricane Cindy: 2 claims, $6K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Greenville County.

Disasters that hit Berea

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BereaDeclared for Greenville County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

1 household applied for aid

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

Around Berea

Berea and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sans Soucimostly inland floodingModerate

Parkermostly inland floodingLow

Bereamostly inland floodingLow

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. Berea covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Berea total about $2.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.