Natural hazards · Live Oak

Live Oak, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Live Oak comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Live Oak?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Live Oak to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes63%Inland flooding16%Tornadoes8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Live Oak faces

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

Hurricanes

63% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 40 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Live Oak flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Horry County.

Disasters that hit Live Oak

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Live OakDeclared for Horry County only

Horry County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and fires.

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. Live Oak 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 Live Oak’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Live Oak. 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.