Natural hazards · Salem

Salem, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Salem comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Salem?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Salem to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves51%Inland flooding35%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Salem faces

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

Cold waves

51% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Salem flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Oconee County.

Disasters that hit Salem

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SalemDeclared for Oconee County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

421 households applied for aid $263K aid approved

2020

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

3 households applied for aid $12K aid approved

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