54 flood insurance claims·$763,111 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 Halifax 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.
Halifax County faces a flood risk dominated by flash flooding driven by heavy rainfall events. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 40 flash flood events resulting in two deaths, alongside five hurricanes, four tropical storms, and two general flood events. Recent severe weather includes Tropical Storm Ophelia in September 2023, which brought widespread rainfall and flash flooding to the area, and Tropical Storm Eta in November 2020, which produced 4 to 6 inches of rain generally—and close to 10 inches near Rocky Mount—leading to numerous flash floods.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 26 claims with an average payout of $11,865 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone X accounts for 22 claims averaging $20,074 with an average depth of 2 inches, while unshaded Zone X recorded 3 claims averaging $28,264 with a 4-inch average depth, shaded Zone X recorded 2 claims averaging $11,847 with a 4-inch average depth, and Zone V recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $80,593 and an average water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated in designated high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas such as Zone A and coastal or high-energy Zone V, while remaining aware that properties in various Zone X classifications also experience damaging flood claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
16% of Halifax County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
32 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 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 1999, with 18 claims and $216,827 paid, the year of Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations and Hurricane Floyd.
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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Halifax County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1988, 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 |
| Hurricane Matthew | Oct 4, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
51 since 1996: 40 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 23, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 12, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 11, 2020 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 11, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2020 | $1.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 6, 2019 | $500,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 11, 2018 | $250,000 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2016 | $73.5M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 23, 2023. Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall across southeastern North Carolina. Ophelia tracked north-northwest into the northern Coastal Plain of central North Carolina by midday, then into eastern Virginia by the early evening hours. Widespread rainfall to the north and west of Ophelia led to numerous flash flood reports in Wake, Wilson, and Halifax Counties during the morning and early afternoon hours.
Flash Flood · Nov 12, 2020. Moisture from Tropical Storm Eta was drawn northward into the Mid Atlantic during the day of Wednesday November 11th. Meanwhile, a slow moving cold front approached the area and made its way through central North Carolina during the day Thursday, resulting in widespread showers and isolated thunderstorms. Rainfall totals were generally in the 4 to 6 inches range, although some spots near Rocky Mount saw close to 1…
Flash Flood · Nov 11, 2020. Moisture from Tropical Storm Eta was drawn northward into the Mid Atlantic during the day of Wednesday November 11th. Meanwhile, a slow moving cold front approached the area and made its way through central North Carolina during the day Thursday, resulting in widespread showers and isolated thunderstorms. Rainfall totals were generally in the 4 to 6 inches range, although some spots near Rocky Mount saw close to 1…
Tropical Storm · Aug 4, 2020. Hurricane Isaias made landfall in southeast North Carolina, then moved north through coastal North Carolina. Significant rain fell across the Coastal Plain, Sandhills and eastern Piedmont of North Carolina as Isaias moved northward through the state along with gusty winds up to 50 to 60 miles per hour. Isaias produced two to five inches of rain across much of eastern NC, resulting in flash flooding, as well as min…
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 Halifax 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.