Pinewood’s biggest natural hazard is hurricanes
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pinewood comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Pinewood’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Pinewood flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Pinewood. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Pinewood isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Sumter County.How exposed is Pinewood?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.
Calmer than 270 of the 475 South Carolina towns we cover.
Pinewood is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Pinewood faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
Inland flooding
Earthquakes
3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Pinewood
Disasters that paid out in Pinewood itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Pinewood) and its biggest flood years.
- 2016Hurricane Matthew59 households applied for aid$33K aid approved
- 2015Severe Storms and Flooding400 households applied for aid$180K aid approved
- 2004Tropical Storm Frances4 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
Sumter County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Old photos of Pinewood after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Pinewood archive →Get ready for what Pinewood actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in August–October
The month each of Sumter County’s 19 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Pinewood’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Pinewood.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Pinewood.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.