Natural hazards · Hilltop

Hilltop, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hilltop comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hilltop?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hilltop to be higher than in 6% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding42%Earthquakes14%Cold waves13%Tornadoes11%Ice storms7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Hilltop 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

Well below average · higher than 6% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

14% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Ice storms

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter 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 Hilltop flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Spartanburg County.

Disasters that hit Hilltop

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Spartanburg County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Hilltop itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into HilltopDeclared for Spartanburg County only

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

Around Hilltop

Hilltop and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Spartanburgmostly inland floodingLow

Saxonmostly inland floodingLow

Whitneymostly inland floodingLow

Southern Shopsmostly inland floodingVery low

Hilltopmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Hilltop covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hilltop’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Hilltop. 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 Hilltop total about $693K 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.