Natural hazards · Buffalo

Buffalo, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buffalo?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buffalo to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding42%Tornadoes20%Cold waves10%Earthquakes5%Everything else23%

By hazard

What Buffalo faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 67 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% 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 Buffalo flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Union County.

Disasters that hit Buffalo

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BuffaloDeclared for Union County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

574 households applied for aid $235K aid approved

Union County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and ice 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. Buffalo covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Buffalo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Buffalo. 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 Buffalo total about $1.3M 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.