Natural hazards · Shell Point

Shell Point, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shell Point comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 39 claims here since 1980.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Shell Point?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shell Point to be higher than in 98% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes79%Inland flooding6%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Shell Point faces

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

Hurricanes

79% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 7% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Shell Point flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Shell Point, from FEMA’s records.

39paid claims since 1980

$409Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Matthew: 12 claims, $133K
Hurricane Irma: 6 claims, $182K
Hurricane Hugo: 1 claim, $1K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Beaufort County.

Disasters that hit Shell Point

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Beaufort County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Shell Point itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Shell PointDeclared for Beaufort County only

Beaufort County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Shell Point

Shell Point and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Shell Pointmostly hurricanesVery high

Port Royalmostly hurricanesVery high

Burtonmostly hurricanesVery high

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. Shell Point covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Shell Point’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Shell Point. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Shell Point total about $5.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.