Natural hazards · South Union

South Union, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in South Union comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is South Union?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in South Union to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves52%Inland flooding27%Tornadoes7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What South Union faces

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

Cold waves

52% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 79 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 South Union flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. South Union 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 South Union

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Oconee County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching South Union itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into South UnionDeclared for Oconee County only

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. South Union 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 South Union’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to South Union. 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.