Santee Canal · Photo: HABS photographer · Public domainFEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Bonneau Beach than in 96% of U.S. towns, mostly from hurricanes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bonneau Beach gets a D− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 96% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is hurricanes (66%), then river and rain flooding (17%). 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 Bonneau Beach 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
Earthquakes
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 Bonneau Beach’s grade
Hurricanes are 66% of the building damage FEMA expects in Bonneau Beach, and Bonneau Beach’s rate of hurricanes damage is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 2%, at a rate in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts.
D− higher expected damage per building than 96% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Bonneau Beach’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.5M a year in losses across Bonneau Beach: $1.2M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Bonneau Beach flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bonneau Beach. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Bonneau Beach isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Berkeley County.The storms Bonneau Beach remembers
None of the 18 disasters declared for Berkeley County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Bonneau Beach itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Berkeley County has had 18 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.
Get ready for what Bonneau Beach 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Bonneau Beach
Is Bonneau Beach at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bonneau Beach has higher expected damage per building than 96% of U.S. towns: D− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is hurricanes (66%) and river and rain flooding (17%). 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 Bonneau Beach 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 Berkeley County, 82% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 7.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Bonneau Beach?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bonneau Beach’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Bonneau Beach at risk from hurricanes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (66%), and Bonneau Beach’s rate for it is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bonneau Beach.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bonneau Beach’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.