Disaster Data / States / South Carolina / Richland County

County

Richland County, South Carolina

Richland County recorded 21 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 9 major disasters, 12 emergencies, and 0 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Richland County, SC

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

21
Declarations since FY2000
9
Major disasters (DR)
12
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Jan 2026
Most recent
$36.3M
Federal PA obligated (top: utilities)

The federal disaster record for Richland County runs between 2000 and 2024, 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 storm, and severe ice storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $36.3 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 45079
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
79.2
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 79.2% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status74.9
Household characteristics38.9
Racial and ethnic minority status91.5
Housing type and transportation86.2

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
93.1
overall risk score
Relatively Moderate
Expected annual loss$137.8MRelatively Moderate
NRI social vulnerability33.7Relatively Low
Community resilience65.2Relatively 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$19,086,857
Emergency protective measures(B)61$11,541,519
Roads and bridges(C)7$2,159,450
Debris removal(A)30$2,117,420
Parks and recreation(G)8$727,227
Buildings and equipment(E)19$519,311
Water control facilities(D)2$61,761
Management costs(Z)5$40,237
All categories172$36,253,782

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 10-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 183 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$1.6M
246 days to first federal obligation
DR-4542 2020$458K
200 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$1.1M
150 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Irma 2017$91K
548 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Matthew 2016$472K
167 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms And Flooding 2015$29.6M
35 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr7 yr8 yr9 yr10 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.

44,257
valid registrations
12,775
households approved
$37,744,412
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$15,563,567
Rental assistance$6,244,758
Other needs$15,894,982

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.

$28,856,660
federal mitigation share
41
funded projects
54
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)33$27,646,774
Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM)5$682,846
Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA)3$527,040

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.

10
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

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
Sep 26, 20252025-33Declaring State of Emergency for Tropical Disturbance Invest 94LThunderstorm WindNot reported
Sep 25, 20242024-24Declaring State of Emergency for Hurricane HeleneFlash Flood$10,000
Aug 4, 20242024-16Declaring State of Emergency for Tropical Storm DebbyFlash Flood, Thunderstorm Wind$32,000
Aug 29, 20232023-29Declaring State of Emergency Due to Hurricane IdaliaFlash Flood, Thunderstorm Wind$100
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 Wind, Tornado$10,000
Aug 13, 20042004-18This executive order by Governor Mark Sanford declares a state of emergency and directs that the South Carolina Emergency Operations Plan be placed into effect due to the possible dangers of Hurricane Charley.Thunderstorm Wind$306,000
Sep 14, 1999SC-ACTION-1999-09-14-720282f0This executive order by Governor James H. Hodges declares a state of emergency due to Hurricane Floyd.Thunderstorm WindNot reported
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.TornadoNot 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 WindNot reported

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 Richland County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
HurricaneSep 29, 2024DR-4829-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
BiologicalMar 27, 2020DR-4492-SCDR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3470-SCEM
HurricaneSep 1, 2019EM-3421-SCEM
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 StormFeb 12, 2014EM-3369-SCEM
HurricaneSep 10, 2005EM-3233-SCEM
HurricaneOct 7, 2004DR-1566-SCDR
Severe Ice StormFeb 13, 2004DR-1509-SCDR
Severe StormJan 31, 2000DR-1313-SCDR

Every declaration on record

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

Showing 21 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
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 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
Feb 12, 2014EM-3369-SCEMSevere Ice StormSevere Winter Storm
Sep 10, 2005EM-3233-SCEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Oct 7, 2004DR-1566-SCDRHurricaneTropical Storm Frances
Feb 13, 2004DR-1509-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); 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