1,192 flood insurance claims·$103.9M paid·7 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Buncombe County, North Carolina. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding dominates the flood character of Buncombe County, accounting for 39 events and 26 deaths over the last 30 years out of a total event mix that also includes 13 standard floods and 2 tropical storms. The severe hazard of these events is illustrated by Tropical Cyclone Helene, which impacted the area in September 2024 through heavy rain showers and embedded thunderstorms that caused widespread flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone A properties experienced the highest volume with 875 claims, an average payout of $123,713, and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 260 claims with an average payout of $78,674 and a higher average recorded water depth of 21 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X_SHADED (17 claims, average payout of $24,038, average water depth of 17 inches), Zone X_UNSHADED (18 claims, average payout of $9,921, average water depth of 2 inches), and Zone UNKNOWN (22 claims, average payout of $1,268, average water depth of 1 inch). Property owners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these risks given their high claim volumes and significant average water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Buncombe County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
910 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 15 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2024, with 506 claims and $81.5M paid, the year of Hurricane Helene.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
25 NOAA storm reports from Buncombe County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 28, 2022 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Fred | Aug 16, 2021 |
| Hurricane Isaias | Jul 31, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Sep 1, 2019 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 7, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
54 since 1996: 39 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $35.0M |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $300.0M · 15 killed |
| Flash Flood | Sep 25, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Aug 17, 2021 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2021 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flash Flood · Sep 25, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Buncombe County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.