Disaster Data / States / South Carolina / Laurens County

County

Laurens County, South Carolina

Laurens County recorded 8 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 13 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 21 in all. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Laurens County, SC

Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

8
Major disasters
13
Emergency declarations
0
Fire management grants
21
All declarations on record
Jan 2026
Most recent
$14.0M
Federal PA obligated (top: utilities)

The federal disaster record for Laurens County runs between 2000 and 2026, covering 21 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Hurricane Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, severe ice storm, and severe storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $14.0 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for utilities.

Past 12 months

Recent declarations and aid so far

Laurens County has been named in 1 federal declaration in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Laurens County to date and grow as recovery continues. It falls in a complete fiscal year and is counted in the totals above.

DeclarationDeclaredHouseholds approvedIndividual AssistancePublic Assistance obligated
EM-3632-SCEmergency · Winter StormJan 23, 2026Incident period Jan 21 to 27, 2026None reportedNone reportedNone reported yet

Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile, with the same figures for every place it covers.

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 45059
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
89.5
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 89.5% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status88.7
Household characteristics84.5
Racial and ethnic minority status70.4
Housing type and transportation81.6

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
76.2
overall risk score
Relatively Low
Expected annual loss$27.1MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability73.1Relatively High
Community resilience29.4Relatively Low

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 obligated

$14M has been obligated to Laurens County in Public Assistance since FY2000.

$14M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $399K, or 3% of the total, was COVID-19, which every county in the country received.

Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.

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)20$4,661,020
Debris removal(A)27$4,257,676
Emergency protective measures(B)32$3,695,316
Management costs(Z)6$544,883
Buildings and equipment(E)8$502,699
Roads and bridges(C)10$146,891
Parks and recreation(G)6$144,901
All categories109$13,953,386

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 37 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.

Hurricane Helene 2024$12.2M
215 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$399K
171 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms And Flooding 2015$305K
45 days to first federal obligation
Severe Ice Storm 2006$354K
22 days to first federal obligation
Severe Ice Storm 2003$76K
30 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storm 2000$586K
23 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.

16,659
valid registrations
7,005
households approved
$14,505,939
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$4,934,552
Rental assistance$586,800
Other needs$8,979,498

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.

$177,499
federal mitigation share
3
funded projects
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)3$177,499

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.

9
state declarations with local storm evidence
67
statewide on record

Archive coverage for South Carolina: 1970-present from the official State Library collection (orders before 1970 left off), enriched from the 2017-present Governor archive

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
Sep 25, 20242024-24Declaring State of Emergency for Hurricane HeleneFlash Flood, Flood$11,000
Sep 24, 20182018-42State of Emergency Due to Major Disaster and Aftermath of Hurricane FlorenceThunderstorm WindNot reported
Oct 1, 20152015-21This executive order by Governor by Governor Nikki R. Haley declares that due to Hurricane Joaquin a State of Emergency exists in South Carolina and direct that the South Carolina Emergency Operations Plan be placed into effect.Flood$10,000
Mar 17, 20082008-04This executive order by Governor Mark Sanford declares a state of emergency due to weather conditions of tornadoes and hail.Hail, Thunderstorm WindNot reported
Sep 4, 1996SC-ACTION-1996-09-04-cbb5dec5This executive order by Governor David M. Beasley declares a state of emergency for South Carolina due to the threat of Hurricane Fran.Thunderstorm WindNot reported
Jul 10, 1996SC-ACTION-1996-07-10-367cbef1This executive order by Governor David M. Beasley declares a state of emergency due to the threat of Hurricane Bertha.Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
Aug 16, 1994SC-ACTION-1994-08-16-7a23d3c9This executive order by Governor Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. declares a state of emergency in Lexington County due to tornado damage.HailNot reported
May 7, 1989SC-ACTION-1989-05-07-2c31cf37This executive order by Governor Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. declares a state of emergency in Cherokee and Spartanburg Counties due to tornadoes.Thunderstorm WindNot reported
Mar 29, 1984SC-ACTION-1984-03-29-4609209fThis executive order by Governor Richard W. Riley declares a state of emergency in South Carolina due to a severe storm.Hail, Thunderstorm Wind, Tornado$25,000,000

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

Every declaration on record

Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.

Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.

Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.

Showing 21 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Jan 23, 2026EM-3632-SCEMWinter StormSevere Winter Storm
Sep 29, 2024DR-4829-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Helene
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
Mar 27, 2020DR-4492-SCDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3470-SCEMBiologicalCovid-19
Sep 1, 2019EM-3421-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Dorian
Sep 10, 2018EM-3400-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Florence
Oct 16, 2017DR-4346-SCDRHurricaneHurricane Irma
Sep 7, 2017EM-3386-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Irma
Oct 6, 2016EM-3378-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Matthew
Oct 5, 2015DR-4241-SCDRFloodSevere Storms And Flooding
Oct 3, 2015EM-3373-SCEMSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
Feb 12, 2014EM-3369-SCEMSevere Ice StormSevere Winter Storm
Jan 20, 2006DR-1625-SCDRSevere Ice StormSevere Ice Storm
Sep 10, 2005EM-3233-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Jan 8, 2003DR-1451-SCDRSevere Ice StormSevere Ice Storm
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). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. 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