Natural hazards · Litchfield Beach

Litchfield Beach, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Litchfield Beach comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 309 claims here since 1989.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Litchfield Beach?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Litchfield Beach to be higher than in 97% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes73%Inland flooding12%Coastal flooding8%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Litchfield Beach faces

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

Hurricanes

73% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Coastal flooding

8% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Litchfield Beach flood?

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

309paid claims since 1989

$10.7Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19892026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Ian: 137 claims, $6.5M
Hurricane Matthew: 99 claims, $2.2M
Hurricane Hugo: 15 claims, $226K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Georgetown County.

Disasters that hit Litchfield Beach

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Litchfield BeachDeclared for Georgetown County only

Georgetown County has had 19 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. Litchfield Beach covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Litchfield Beach’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Litchfield Beach. 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 Litchfield Beach total about $17.2M 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.