15 flood insurance claims·$195,670 paid·5 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 Granville 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 risk profile in Granville County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 24 flash flood events, alongside 5 hurricanes, 2 tropical storms, and 2 general floods. Recent events illustrate this threat, such as May 2025, when training and back-building storms produced rainfall rates of 3 or more inches per hour, and July 2025, when anomalous moisture driven by a weak trough brought widespread flash flooding to the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims have been filed across multiple zones, with the highest concentration and severity occurring in designated high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 8 claims with an average payout of $26,133 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Zone X accounts for 4 claims with an average payout of $15,632 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 2 claims averaging $388 with an average water depth of 1 inch, and Zone V recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $7,219 and 0 inches of recorded water depth. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 3 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 3 claims and $26,183 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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Granville County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 5 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 |
| Tropical Storm Michael | Oct 10, 2018 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 7, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
33 since 1996: 24 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | $4,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 17, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2020 | $5,000 |
— = 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 · 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 · Aug 8, 2024. Tropical Depression Debby slowly made its way through Florida, off the South Carolina coast, then back inland through the western Piedmont of North Carolina during the evening hours of 8 August 2024. Ahead of the storm, numerous feeder bands brought periods of heavy rain to central North Carolina, resulting in widespread 4-6 inch rainfall amounts across the western Piedmont, with higher amounts to the east. In add…
Flash Flood · Jul 14, 2023. A few surface boundaries, from upstream thunderstorms over Virginia and the North Carolina Foothills during the afternoon and evening on the 13th of July, converged upon and focused thunderstorm development over central North Carolina, as they settled generally southward throughout the morning through evening hours on the 14th. Damaging wind gusts and flash flooding resulted from a combination of slow-moving showe…
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 Granville 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.