Disaster Data / States / South Carolina / Berkeley County

County

Berkeley County, South Carolina

Berkeley County recorded 26 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 14 major disasters, 12 emergencies, and 0 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Berkeley County, SC

Totals: FY2000–FY2025 · Page last rebuilt Sep 12, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

26
Declarations since FY2000
14
Major disasters (DR)
12
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Jan 2026
Most recent
$69.7M
Federal PA obligated (top: utilities)

The federal disaster record for Berkeley County runs between 2000 and 2024, covering 26 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Hurricane Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, severe storm, and tropical storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $69.7 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for utilities.

Risk and vulnerability context

Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.

County FIPS 45015
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
54.5
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 54.5% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status40.8
Household characteristics57.9
Racial and ethnic minority status75.9
Housing type and transportation55.2

Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
94.8
overall risk score
Relatively High
Expected annual loss$213.5MRelatively High
NRI social vulnerability14.8Very Low
Community resilience62.8Relatively High

The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation

About these measures: CDC Social Vulnerability Index and FEMA National Risk Index Social Vulnerability are separate measures built with different methods. They are shown side by side for context and should not be interpreted as equivalent scores.

Federal Public Assistance by category

Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.

CategoryProjectsFederal share obligated
Utilities(F)40$34,254,252
Emergency protective measures(B)85$16,485,705
Debris removal(A)33$8,568,144
Water control facilities(D)8$5,157,502
Buildings and equipment(E)47$1,870,204
Roads and bridges(C)23$1,505,793
Management costs(Z)28$1,366,331
Parks and recreation(G)10$467,858
All categories274$69,675,789

Recovery funding, how fast it came

For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 6-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 159 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.

Tropical Storm Debby 2024$2.1M
157 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Helene 2024$6.1M
345 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Idalia 2023$189K
161 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Ian 2022$4.5M
58 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds 2020$523K
112 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$4.5M
383 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr

Assistance to households (Individual Assistance)

FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.

8,920
valid registrations
2,568
households approved
$7,753,042
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$3,677,857
Rental assistance$2,131,240
Other needs$1,936,853

Hazard mitigation, what has been funded here

Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.

$2,315,386
federal mitigation share
10
funded projects
10
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM)1$1,514,948
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)9$800,438

State declarations (governor)

Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.

7
state declarations with local storm evidence
50
statewide on record

Archive coverage for South Carolina: 1966-present official State Library collection, enriched from the 2017-present Governor archive

Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.

Most common hazards

Previous occurrences, for your mitigation plan

Every local hazard mitigation plan must document previous occurrences of each hazard. Here is that record for Berkeley County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
HurricaneSep 29, 2024DR-4829-SCDR
Tropical StormSep 29, 2024DR-4835-SCDR
Tropical StormSep 26, 2024EM-3619-SCEM
Tropical StormAug 5, 2024EM-3606-SCEM
HurricaneAug 31, 2023EM-3597-SCEM
HurricaneNov 21, 2022DR-4677-SCDR
HurricaneSep 29, 2022EM-3585-SCEM
Severe StormMay 1, 2020DR-4542-SCDR
BiologicalMar 27, 2020DR-4492-SCDR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3470-SCEM
HurricaneSep 30, 2019DR-4464-SCDR
HurricaneSep 1, 2019EM-3421-SCEM
HurricaneSep 16, 2018DR-4394-SCDR
HurricaneSep 10, 2018EM-3400-SCEM
HurricaneOct 16, 2017DR-4346-SCDR
HurricaneSep 7, 2017EM-3386-SCEM
HurricaneOct 11, 2016DR-4286-SCDR
HurricaneOct 6, 2016EM-3378-SCEM
FloodOct 5, 2015DR-4241-SCDR
Severe StormOct 3, 2015EM-3373-SCEM
Severe Ice StormMar 12, 2014DR-4166-SCDR
Severe Ice StormFeb 12, 2014EM-3369-SCEM
HurricaneSep 10, 2005EM-3233-SCEM
HurricaneOct 7, 2004DR-1566-SCDR
Severe StormSep 15, 2004DR-1547-SCDR
Severe StormJan 31, 2000DR-1313-SCDR

Every declaration on record

DR = Major disaster (Stafford Act) · EM = Emergency declaration · FM = Fire management assistance

Showing 26 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Sep 29, 2024DR-4829-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Helene
Sep 29, 2024DR-4835-SCDRTropical StormTropical Storm Debby
Sep 26, 2024EM-3619-SCEMTropical StormHurricane Helene
Aug 5, 2024EM-3606-SCEMTropical StormHurricane Debby
Aug 31, 2023EM-3597-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Idalia
Nov 21, 2022DR-4677-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Ian
Sep 29, 2022EM-3585-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Ian
May 1, 2020DR-4542-SCDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds
Mar 27, 2020DR-4492-SCDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3470-SCEMBiologicalCovid-19
Sep 30, 2019DR-4464-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Dorian
Sep 1, 2019EM-3421-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Dorian
Sep 16, 2018DR-4394-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Florence
Sep 10, 2018EM-3400-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Florence
Oct 16, 2017DR-4346-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Irma
Sep 7, 2017EM-3386-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Irma
Oct 11, 2016DR-4286-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Matthew
Oct 6, 2016EM-3378-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Matthew
Oct 5, 2015DR-4241-SCDRFloodSevere Storms And Flooding
Oct 3, 2015EM-3373-SCEMSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
Mar 12, 2014DR-4166-SCDRSevere Ice StormSevere Winter Storm
Feb 12, 2014EM-3369-SCEMSevere Ice StormSevere Winter Storm
Sep 10, 2005EM-3233-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Oct 7, 2004DR-1566-SCDRHurricaneTropical Storm Frances
Sep 15, 2004DR-1547-SCDRSevere StormTropical Storm Gaston
Jan 31, 2000DR-1313-SCDRSevere StormSevere Winter Storm
← South Carolina statewide overview · All South Carolina jurisdictions

How these numbers are built

Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to South Carolina's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30); the in-progress year may appear in the most-recent list but is not counted in the totals. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.

Cite this profile

Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.

Other South Carolina jurisdictions