Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5Storms, floods and disasters in Greenville
Greenville isn’t graded for hazard risk: FEMA’s tract figures aren’t matched to Greenville yet.
What Greenville faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
River and rain flooding
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Greenville flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Greenville. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Greenville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Madison County.7 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Greenville
Disasters that paid out in Greenville itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Greenville), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Helene798 households applied for aid$2.2M aid approved$52K to the Town of Greenville for repairs
- 2024Hurricane Debby393 households applied for aid$844K aid approved
- 2023Hurricane Idalia891 households applied for aid$1.1M aid approved$46K to the Town of Greenville for repairs
- 2018Hurricane Michael7 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
- 2009Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-line Winds6 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
- 2008Tropical Storm Fay141 households applied for aid$63K aid approved
Show all 7
- 2004Hurricane Jeanne181 households applied for aid$400K aid approved
Madison County has had 21 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Madison County, 2000–2000.
Old photos of Greenville after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Greenville archive →Get ready for what Greenville faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Greenville
Is Greenville in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Madison County, 11% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Greenville?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Greenville’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Greenville?
By FEMA money that reached Greenville, Hurricane Helene (2024): 798 households applied for aid, $2.2M approved, and $52K to the Town of Greenville for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Greenville.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Greenville’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.