Natural hazards · Great Falls

Great Falls, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Great Falls comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1989. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Great Falls?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Great Falls to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding45%Tornadoes24%Earthquakes7%Strong wind6%Lightning5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Great Falls faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

24% of expected damage

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

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lightning

5% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslides

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 Great Falls flood?

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

1paid claims since 1989

$8Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19892026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chester County.

Disasters that hit Great Falls

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Great FallsDeclared for Chester County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

366 households applied for aid $861K aid approved $13K to the Town of Great Falls for repairs

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

6 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

Chester County has had 18 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. Great Falls covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Great Falls’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Great Falls. 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 Great Falls total about $688K 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.