Natural hazards · Whitney

Whitney, SC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Whitney comes from inland flooding, 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 Whitney?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Whitney to be higher than in 20% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding55%Earthquakes11%Cold waves10%Tornadoes8%Ice storms5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Whitney faces

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

Inland flooding

55% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Ice storms

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Whitney flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Spartanburg County.

Disasters that hit Whitney

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WhitneyDeclared for Spartanburg County only

Spartanburg County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Whitney

Whitney and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Spartanburgmostly inland floodingLow

Valley Fallsmostly inland floodingLow

Whitneymostly inland floodingLow

Draytonmostly inland floodingVery low

Hilltopmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Whitney covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Whitney’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Whitney. 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 Whitney total about $1.9M 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.