Natural hazards · Donalds

Donalds, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Donalds comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is 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 Donalds?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Donalds to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves29%Inland flooding26%Tornadoes17%Heat waves9%Earthquakes6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Donalds faces

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

Cold waves

29% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Donalds flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Abbeville County.

Disasters that hit Donalds

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DonaldsDeclared for Abbeville County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

670 households applied for aid $481K aid approved

2015

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $2K aid approved

Abbeville County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe 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. Donalds 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 Donalds’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Donalds. 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.