Natural hazards · Kershaw

Kershaw, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kershaw 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 Kershaw?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kershaw to be higher than in 24% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding31%Tornadoes20%Cold waves18%Earthquakes11%Strong wind8%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Kershaw faces

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

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 49 years in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Kershaw flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lancaster County.

Disasters that hit Kershaw

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into KershawDeclared for Lancaster County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

18 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

2015

Severe Storms and Flooding

12 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

2 households applied for aid

2000

Severe Winter Storm

$5K to the Town of Kershaw for repairs

Lancaster County has had 17 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. Kershaw 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 Kershaw’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Kershaw. 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.