On FEMA’s figures, Murphys Estates faces less hazard damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Murphys Estates gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%), then hurricanes (11%). 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 Murphys Estates 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
Hurricanes
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 Murphys Estates’ grade
River and rain flooding is 70% of the building damage FEMA expects in Murphys Estates, and Murphys Estates’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 54% of U.S. census tracts. Ice storms add 2%, at a rate in the top 9% of U.S. census tracts.
B lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Murphys Estates’ residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $357K a year in losses across Murphys Estates: $242K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Murphys Estates flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Murphys Estates. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Murphys Estates isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Edgefield County.The storms Murphys Estates remembers
None of the 15 disasters declared for Edgefield County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Murphys Estates itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Edgefield County has had 15 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.
Get ready for what Murphys Estates 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.
- 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.
- 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 Murphys Estates
Is Murphys Estates at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Murphys Estates has lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%) and hurricanes (11%). 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 Murphys Estates 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 Edgefield County, 0.4% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Murphys Estates?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Murphys Estates’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Murphys Estates at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (70%), and Murphys Estates’ rate for it is lower than 54% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Murphys Estates.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Murphys Estates’ 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.