Natural hazards · Smoaks

Smoaks, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Smoaks comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 2016. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Smoaks?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Smoaks to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes53%Inland flooding16%Earthquakes13%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Smoaks faces

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

Hurricanes

53% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Smoaks flood?

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

5paid claims since 2016

$158Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20162026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Debby: 2 claims, $16K
Hurricane Matthew: 1 claim, $7K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Colleton County.

Disasters that hit Smoaks

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SmoaksDeclared for Colleton County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

14 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2020

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

60 households applied for aid $70K aid approved

2016

Hurricane Matthew

85 households applied for aid $20K aid approved

2015

Severe Storms and Flooding

151 households applied for aid $120K aid approved

Colleton County has had 16 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. Smoaks covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Smoaks’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Smoaks. 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 Smoaks total about $1.2M 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.