443 flood insurance claims·$11.0M paid·4 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 Durham 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 from severe summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Durham County, which recorded 91 flash flood events alongside 5 hurricane events, 4 general floods, and 3 tropical storms over the last 30 years.
Recent historic events highlight this vulnerability. In July 2025, tropical system remnants tracked into the region, producing catastrophic flash flooding from record rainfall of up to 11 inches in parts of the Piedmont. Earlier in May 2025, training and back-building storms dropped 3 or more inches of rain per hour across central North Carolina.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with Zone A accounting for 235 claims at an average payout of $41,394 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X recorded 169 claims averaging $21,141 with an average water depth of 15 inches, while Zone V recorded 7 claims averaging $46,348 with an average water depth of 18 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 18 claims averaging $7,436 with an average water depth of 10 inches, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 14 claims averaging $3,019 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Property owners in designated high-risk zones, as well as those in moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas experiencing significant localized water depths, should pay the closest attention.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of Durham County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
274 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 10 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 1996, with 76 claims and $703,312 paid, the year of Hurricane Fran.
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.
45 NOAA storm reports from Durham County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Tropical Depression Chantal | Jul 6, 2025 |
| 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
103 since 1996: 91 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 6, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2024 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $15,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 29, 2025. Storms over South Carolina in association with a mid-level system tracked into central North Carolina in the afternoon and evening hours. The storms initially produced a wind damage and isolated hail threat. Thereafter, the event evolved into a flash flood threat, with training and back building storms resulting in 3 or more inches per hour rainfall rates from Albemarle to Greensboro to Burlington to Henderson.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. In a typical summertime warm and humid regime, scattered showers and storms developed over the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of central North Carolina. Several storms produced numerous reports of trees down, with even a few isolated flash flood events.
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2025. A weak trough of low pressure over the Ohio and Tennessee valley region was in place, along with very anomalous moisture over the Carolinas. Scattered showers and storms over the Appalachians become widespread as they moved into central North Carolina in the evening and overnight hours. Numerous wind and flash flooding reports were recorded over the region.
Flash Flood · Jul 6, 2025. Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall over northeastern South Carolina during the morning hours of July 6. The remnants of Chantal then tracked west-northwest into portions of central North Carolina, stalling out over the area before tracking east-northeast into Virginia by the 7th of July. Catastrophic flash flooding occurred from record rainfall of up to 11 inches in some spots of the Piedmont, included 6 flash f…
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 Durham 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.