282 flood insurance claims·$5.9M paid·9 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 Chowan 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.
Tropical storms and hurricanes dominate the flood character of Chowan County, accounting for 17 of the 31 recorded storm events over the last 30 years alongside recurring flash floods. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including a strong low pressure system that produced heavy rain and flash flooding on December 18, 2023, and scattered thunderstorms along a frontal boundary that caused flash flooding on August 10, 2024. Tropical Storm Ophelia also impacted the region in September 2023, following the earlier passage of Tropical Storm Elsa in July 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with the vast majority concentrated in high-risk areas. Properties in Zone A experienced 226 claims with an average payout of $24,923 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 16 claims with an average payout of $32,818 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches, while Zone X saw 32 claims with an average payout of $23,545 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone X_SHADED recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $52,762 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and unshaded Zone X properties should pay the closest attention to flood risks, given the high volume of historical claims and significant average water depths recorded during past flooding events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Chowan County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
248 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 6 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 2003, with 146 claims and $4.6M paid, the year of Hurricane Isabel.
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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Chowan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 5, 2024 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 28, 2022 |
| Hurricane Isaias | Jul 31, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Sep 1, 2019 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 7, 2018 |
| Hurricane Matthew | Oct 4, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 6 flash floods, 5 river or area floods and 3 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 23, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Apr 9, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Jul 8, 2021 | $15,000 |
| Coastal Flood | Apr 13, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Nov 12, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2020 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 10, 2024. Scattered thunderstorms along a frontal boundary produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding across portions of northeast North Carolina.
Tropical Storm · Sep 23, 2023. Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall in Emerald Island, NC (in the southeast part of the state) at 6:20 AM on Saturday, 9/23 as a tropical storm with 70 mph winds. Ophelia gradually weakened (and lost tropical characteristics) as it tracked northward toward the Wakefield CWA during the day on Saturday. Ophelia tracked northward roughly along the I-95 corridor during the afternoon and evening hours on Saturday, rea…
Flash Flood · Dec 18, 2023. Strong low pressure moving northward along the coast produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding across portions of northeast North Carolina.
Flood · Apr 9, 2021. Scattered thunderstorms in advance of a warm front produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding and flooding across portions of northeast North Carolina.
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 Chowan 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.