18,950 flood insurance claims·$226.1M paid·11 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 Dare 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 floods and tropical storms dominate the recorded flood events in Dare County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database documenting 27 flash flood events and 26 tropical storm events over the last 30 years, alongside hurricanes, coastal flooding, general floods, and storm surge/tide events.
Recent occurrences illustrate these recurring hazards. During August 2025, Hurricane Erin passed roughly 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras as a category 2 storm, producing damaging ocean overwash, storm surge, and minor soundside flooding on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. Later that year, distant hurricanes in September 2025 generated large swells that caused major ocean overwash, wave runup, and multi-day closures of Highway 12, resulting in the collapse of five homes in Buxton on September 30.
Property owners and prospective buyers in Special Flood Hazard Areas should pay the closest attention to risk profiles. FEMA claims data shows the highest volume of historic claims occurred in Zone A, with 13,314 claims averaging an 8-inch recorded water depth and $16,756 in payouts. Zone V recorded 2,350 claims with an average water depth of 12 inches and $17,539 payouts, while unshaded Zone X recorded 1,848 claims averaging a 12-inch water depth and $13,002 in payouts. Shaded Zone X recorded 133 claims with an average water depth of 9 inches and $29,186 payouts, and standard Zone X recorded 1,284 claims with an average water depth of 6 inches and $19,078 payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Dare County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
17,645 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 9 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 2011, with 3,462 claims and $45.4M paid, the year of Hurricane Irene.
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.
47 NOAA storm reports from Dare County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1988, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight | Sep 16, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 5, 2024 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 28, 2022 |
| Hurricane Isaias | Jul 31, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Sep 1, 2019 |
| Tropical Storm Michael | Oct 10, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
85 since 1996: 27 flash floods, 5 river or area floods and 15 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Sep 30, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 27, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Aug 20, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 15, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 11, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 2, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Coastal Flood · Sep 30, 2025. Distant Hurricanes Humberto Imelda moved well off the East Coast at the end of the month, but produced major ocean overwash and wave runup affecting Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands for several days at the end of the month and into the beginning of October due to large long period swells. Highway 12 became impassable around high tide on September 30th, and remained closed until the early evening of October 2nd. A tot…
Coastal Flood · Oct 27, 2025. A low-pressure system moved offshore and combined with high pressure to the north to produce strong northeasterly winds, which in turn brought large waves and ocean overwash to Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands from October 27-29. The resultant impacts caused five oceanfront homes to collapse, and closed sections of N.C. 12 on Hatteras and Ocracoke Island.
Tropical Storm · Aug 21, 2025. Hurricane Erin made its closest approach to the North Carolina coast during the morning hours of Thursday, August 21st, 2025 as a category 2. While the center of Erin remained around 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras, Erin was so large that damaging ocean overwash and storm surge impacted Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, and caused additional minor ocean overwash along ocean areas to the north and to the south, and mi…
Storm Surge/Tide · Aug 20, 2025. Hurricane Erin made its closest approach to the North Carolina coast during the morning hours of Thursday, August 21st, 2025 as a category 2. While the center of Erin remained around 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras, Erin was so large that damaging ocean overwash and storm surge impacted Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, and caused additional minor ocean overwash along ocean areas to the north and to the south, and mi…
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 Dare 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.