Automated baseline from FEMA and NOAA data, release 2026-10.

Oconee County, SC

Risk-assessment baseline packet. County FIPS 45073. Release 2026-10, data as of 2026-09-30.

Summary

Plan status as of 2026-09-30: Approved, expires 2028-05-25. Plan: Anderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052), approved 2023-05-26.

Since the plan was approved on 2023-05-26: 6 new hazard declarations (4 incidents) and 51 NOAA Storm Events records; details under "What changed since your last plan".

Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Cold Wave ($19,989,338 a year), Inland Flooding ($16,307,486) and Tornado ($3,284,914).

The packet's tables are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); the summaries below follow the same order.

Download the packet

Full packet as a web page. File manifest (checksums, source versions).

Plan clock

Approved, expires 2028-05-25

Plan:
Anderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052)
Approved:
2023-05-26
Days to expiry:
603

What changed since your last plan (approved 2023-05-26)

New federal declarations:
6 new hazard declarations (4 incidents): EM-3597-SC (Hurricane Idalia), EM-3606-SC (Hurricane Debby), EM-3619-SC (Hurricane Helene), DR-4829-SC (Hurricane Helene), EM-3632-SC (Severe Winter Storm), DR-4908-SC (Severe Winter Storm)
Storm Events records since approval:
51 records (data through 2026-06-30)
Repetitive loss now:
FMA RL 0, SRL 0 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 1
Repeat-flood change:
this release sets the baseline count.

Plan status for every jurisdiction listed in this county

6 jurisdictions. Each row is that jurisdiction's own plan clock. Notes include other approved plans FEMA lists for the same jurisdiction.

JurisdictionTypeStatusPlanApprovedExpiresDays to expirynegative = days since expiryNotes
Oconee County (unincorporated area)UnincorporatedApproved, expires 2028-05-25Anderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052)2023-05-262028-05-25603
Salem townTownPlan 109052 approved 2023-05-26, pending adoption here; not yet eligibleAnderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052), pending adoption here2023-05-26 by FEMA; not yet adopted here2028-05-25 once adoptedNot yet eligible: adopt the plan FEMA lists as approvable pending adoption.
Seneca cityCityApproved, expires 2028-05-25Anderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052)2023-05-262028-05-25603This jurisdiction approved 2024-01-08.
Walhalla cityCityPlan 109052 approved 2023-05-26, pending adoption here; not yet eligibleAnderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052), pending adoption here2023-05-26 by FEMA; not yet adopted here2028-05-25 once adoptedNot yet eligible: adopt the plan FEMA lists as approvable pending adoption.
West Union townTownPlan 109052 approved 2023-05-26, pending adoption here; not yet eligibleAnderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052), pending adoption here2023-05-26 by FEMA; not yet adopted here2028-05-25 once adoptedNot yet eligible: adopt the plan FEMA lists as approvable pending adoption.
Westminster cityCityApproved, expires 2028-05-25Anderson and Oconee County Regional (FEMA plan 109052)2023-05-262028-05-25603This jurisdiction approved 2023-08-18.

Plan 109052 lists 10 other participants not on this page, 4 of them not covered by it yet (named in the Excel file).

State plan status and tribal plans in this state: see the state page.

What the packet contains

Sections in FEMA checklist order; each heading names the review item its tables support. Full tables are in the downloads above.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a Hazard identification

14 of the 18 National Risk Index hazards apply here.

Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami and volcanic activity. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.

Highest expected annual loss (NRI, modeled): Cold Wave, Inland Flooding and Tornado.

Not covered by NRI (local data needed): dam failure (incl. upstream dams); levee failure; flash flood as its own subtype; ice jams; debris flows; erosion (riverine and coastal); land subsidence and sinkholes; expansive soils.

The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b Hazard location

  • Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather: affects the whole county; national data give no location within it.
  • Earthquake, Hurricane, Landslide, Tornado and Wildfire vary within the county; the packet lists the highest-rated census tracts for each.
  • Inland Flooding: the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c Hazard extent

Storm Events records for 14 of the 21 NOAA event-type groups mapped to the 18 hazards, with the scale, observed range and worst recorded event for each; the others say which local data are needed.

Worst recorded tornado, hail and thunderstorm wind (the three event types on record since the 1950s; the packet has every group):

  • Hail: 3 in hail, 2002-04-28
  • Thunderstorm Wind: 69 kt (79 mph) measured gust, Thunderstorm Wind, 2003-07-11
  • Tornado: F3 tornado, 1994-03-27, 20 mi path length (whole path, pre-1996), 880 yd wide, $5,000,000 property (pre-1996 NOAA value, recorded in damage ranges); $5,000,000 crops (1994 dollars), 12 direct injuries

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d Previous occurrences

Federal declarations for this area: 24 declarations covering 17 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet; each with type, dates and county Public Assistance dollars.

New since the last plan (approved 2023-05-26): DR-4908-SC, EM-3632-SC, DR-4829-SC, EM-3619-SC, EM-3606-SC and EM-3597-SC.

2 statewide declarations listed separately.

Hazards with no Storm Events record and no federal declaration are stated as such (6 of 18).

Storm Events history: 831 records (notable ones in the PDF, all of them in the Excel file).

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e Probability of future events

FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) for each hazard, with a descriptor from a scale defined in the packet.

  • Highly likely: Hail, Landslide, Lightning and Strong Wind
  • Likely: Cold Wave, Drought, Ice Storm, Inland Flooding, Tornado and Winter Weather
  • Possible: Heat Wave and Hurricane
  • Unlikely: Earthquake and Wildfire

Historical frequency by intensity band (tornado, hail, wind): 9 bands from Storm Events.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f Hazards that vary across jurisdictions

Range of census tract risk scores within the area for 14 of the 18 hazards (20 tracts; rated tracts only).

6 jurisdictions: plan clock, repeat-flood count, Public Assistance dollars and event records naming the place (starting figures from federal data).

County Public Assistance in B1-d also includes applicants filed under the county that are not matched to a jurisdiction row here (for example county offices and boards filed under their own names, such as a sheriff's office or a conservation board, and state agencies, special districts and nonprofits), so the jurisdiction rows add up to less.

Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b Vulnerability and potential impacts

The packet's table gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.

Storm Events damage since 2023-05-26: $40,000 in county-coded records (39 records); $3,000 reported for the zone (12 zone records). Data through 2026-06-30; nominal dollars.

Local data needed

To gather:

  • Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
  • A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
  • Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
  • Future assets

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a Vulnerability (county context)

Population 78,560; building value $19,464,191,572 and agriculture value $205,265,841 (total, not at risk).

National Risk Index rating Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability Relatively High; community resilience Relatively Moderate.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c Repetitive loss properties

Repetitive-loss properties, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2): 0 repetitive loss, 0 severe repetitive loss. NFIP insurance definition: 1 and 0.

Mitigated 0; insured 0; NFIP data as of 2026-08-02. Counts by occupancy group and for each jurisdiction are in the packet.

Releases

Each release is dated; this is release 2026-10. It was first published 2026-09-30; its files do not change except for dated corrections listed on the changelog (corrected 2026-10-01, 2026-10-02, 2026-10-03, 2026-10-13, 2026-10-17). Later releases will be listed here with what changed between them. All releases.

Cite this

Hazard Plain (2026). Oconee County, SC: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10 (data as of 2026-09-30; County FIPS 45073). Automated baseline. https://hazardplain.org/sc/45073/ Built from FEMA OpenFEMA, the FEMA National Risk Index and NOAA NCEI Storm Events; source versions in the packet's Sources list.

Source citations for the plan's bibliography (11)

How this packet is built: methods and sources