Natural hazards · Plum Branch

Plum Branch, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Plum Branch comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Plum Branch?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Plum Branch to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding44%Tornadoes19%Cold waves10%Hurricanes6%Everything else21%

By hazard

What Plum Branch faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Plum Branch flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McCormick County.

Disasters that hit Plum Branch

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Plum BranchDeclared for McCormick County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

412 households applied for aid $438K aid approved

McCormick County has had 15 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. Plum Branch 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 Plum Branch’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Plum Branch. 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.