On FEMA’s figures, Arthurtown faces less hazard damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns, led by river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Arthurtown gets a B+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns, #41 of 169 in South Carolina. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (46%), then earthquakes (23%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Arthurtown faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Earthquakes
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
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.
What’s behind Arthurtown’s grade
River and rain flooding is 46% of the building damage FEMA expects in Arthurtown, and Arthurtown’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 86% of U.S. census tracts. Ice storms add 3%, at a rate in the top 8% of U.S. census tracts.
B+ #41 of 169 in South Carolina; lower expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Arthurtown’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
The typical South Carolina town has lower expected damage than 55% of U.S. towns; within the state, Arthurtown has less expected damage per building than 76% of South Carolina towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.4M a year in losses across Arthurtown: $991K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Arthurtown flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Arthurtown. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Arthurtown isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Richland County.The storms Arthurtown remembers
None of the 18 disasters declared for Richland County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Arthurtown itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Richland County has had 18 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Arthurtown and its neighbors
Arthurtown has the lowest expected damage per building of the 3 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Arthurtown faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- 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 Arthurtown
Is Arthurtown at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Arthurtown has lower expected damage per building than 70% of U.S. towns: B+ for hazard risk, #41 of 169 in South Carolina. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (46%) and earthquakes (23%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Arthurtown 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 Richland County, 69% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Arthurtown?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Arthurtown’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Arthurtown at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (46%), and Arthurtown’s rate for it is lower than 86% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Arthurtown.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Arthurtown’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.