Natural hazards · Central

Central, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Central comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Central?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Central to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding61%Cold waves11%Tornadoes5%Everything else23%

By hazard

What Central faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Central flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pickens County.

Disasters that hit Central

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CentralDeclared for Pickens County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

1,684 households applied for aid $644K aid approved $214K to the Town of Central for repairs

2020

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

23 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

2005

Severe Ice Storm

$21K to the Town of Central for repairs

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

3 households applied for aid $18K aid approved

Pickens County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and fires.

Around Central

Central and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Clemsonmostly inland floodingModerate

Centralmostly 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. Central 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 Central’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Central. 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.