Natural hazards · Peak

Peak, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Peak comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Peak?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Peak to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding36%Tornadoes21%Hurricanes12%Cold waves9%Earthquakes8%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Peak faces

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

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 41 years in the area

Hurricanes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Earthquakes

8% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Peak flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Newberry County.

Disasters that hit Peak

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PeakDeclared for Newberry County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

9 households applied for aid $300 aid approved

Newberry 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. Peak 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 Peak’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Peak. 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.