Florence storm & claim resource

Florence is an inland city, but it sits at the heart of the Pee Dee, downstream of every storm that stalls over eastern South Carolina. The 2018 hurricane that shared the city’s name did its worst here days after the wind stopped, as the Great Pee Dee and Lynches rivers crested and closed roads for a week; Matthew did the same in 2016. The claims that follow raise the hardest question in South Carolina property insurance: which peril, and which storm, owes for the damage?

What Florence claims turn on

Wind and falling trees are covered, along with the water damage that follows a roof opened by the storm. Rising river and creek water is flood, excluded from every homeowners policy and needing NFIP or private flood coverage. The Pee Dee’s signature problem is timing: the wind passes, then the river crests days later, and carriers argue over whether interior damage was storm rain during the event or floodwater that arrived afterward. That allocation — wind versus delayed river flood — decides whether the claim is paid.

The law here

South Carolina has no matching statute, so a demand to match undamaged roof, siding, or trim turns on the policy’s “like kind and quality” language and, often, appraisal. Bad-faith conduct is governed by S.C. Code § 38-59, and § 38-59-40 shifts attorney’s fees when an insurer refuses to pay a covered loss without reasonable cause. Every deadline and figure on this page is general information — confirm your policy, your dates, and the current statutes with counsel before relying on them.