680 flood insurance claims·$9.4M 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 Guilford 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Guilford County, accounting for 137 of the 149 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 5 general flood events, 4 hurricanes, and 3 tropical storms. Flash flood events are frequently driven by slow-moving or training storm systems, such as the stall of a cold front from Virginia that produced flash flooding and downed trees on June 16, 2025, and a mid-level system from South Carolina that dropped rainfall rates of 3 or more inches per hour from Albemarle to Greensboro on May 29, 2025. Additional widespread flash flooding occurred on July 9, 2025, due to anomalous moisture interacting with a weak low-pressure trough.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones. Zone A properties experienced the highest claim volume with 401 claims averaging a $21,922 payout and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 145 claims with an average payout of $17,497 and a higher average recorded water depth of 17 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED saw 106 claims averaging $8,596 with an average water depth of 2 inches, Zone X_SHADED recorded 13 claims averaging $7,685 with an average water depth of 6 inches, and Zone V registered 10 claims averaging $12,500 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to this flood risk given their high frequency and severity of claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
22% of Guilford County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
530 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 1979, with 75 claims and $729,807 paid.
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.
52 NOAA storm reports from Guilford County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
28 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 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 7, 2018 |
| Tornado And Severe Storms | Apr 15, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
149 since 1996: 137 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2025 | $20,000 |
— = 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 19, 2025. An upper-level disturbance moved across central North Carolina, triggering storms that produced damaging wind gusts and a few reports of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jun 16, 2025. A southward moving cold front out of Virginia stalled out near the North Carolina border. Storms from the late evening on the 15th persisted into the early morning hours of the 16th along and south of the front, producing isolated flash flooding. The stalled boundary then fueled additional numerous showers and storms in the afternoon and evening hours of the 16th along small scale boundaries. Several downed trees…
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2025. Isolated to scattered showers and storms developed along the border with southeastern Virginia in the afternoon hours. The storms then propagated south and southwest during the evening hours. Several reports of flooding were observed, along with a few wind damage reports.
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 Guilford 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.