60 flood insurance claims·$1.1M 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 Iredell 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 weather events dominates the flood history of Iredell County, accounting for 20 of the last 30 years of recorded events alongside 10 standard floods and 3 tropical storms. Recent historical impacts include a major frontal system in January 2024 that brought 3 to 5 inches of rain in 12 hours, causing widespread flooding alongside an EF1 tornado. Later that year in August 2024, the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby dropped 4 to 7 inches of rain across the region, generating flash flooding and structural damage from gusty winds and downed trees. Tropical Cyclone Ian also brought damaging winds of 35 to 50 mph to the area in September 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in high-risk Zone A should pay the most attention, accounting for 34 claims with an average payout of $43,710 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. However, properties in Zone X have also recorded 21 claims with an average payout of $8,164 and an average recorded water depth of 50 inches, indicating significant risk outside designated high-risk flood zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Iredell County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
36 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 15 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 2003, with 12 claims and $717,218 paid, the year of Hurricane Isabel.
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 Iredell County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 5, 2024 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 28, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Eta | Nov 12, 2020 |
| Hurricane Isaias | Jul 31, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Sep 1, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
33 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | $500 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 30, 2022 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Nov 12, 2020 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 12, 2020 | $100,000 · 1 killed |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A major/complex frontal system brought widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms to western North Carolina, mainly during the afternoon of the 9th. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches (with locally higher amounts) in around 12 hours resulted in numerous reports of flooding. Isolated severe thunderstorms also resulted in a number of damaging wind gusts reports over the Piedmont, along with an EF1 tornado…
Flash Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A major/complex frontal system brought widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms to western North Carolina, mainly during the afternoon of the 9th. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches (with locally higher amounts) in around 12 hours resulted in numerous reports of flooding. Isolated severe thunderstorms also resulted in a number of damaging wind gusts reports over the Piedmont, along with an EF1 tornado…
Flash Flood · Aug 8, 2024. The remnants Tropical Storm Debby made landfall in the Florida Big Bend on the 5th, lifted steadily northeast across southeast Georgia before turning north through the South Carolina coastal plain and the North Carolina Piedmont on the 7th and 8th. Rainfall amounts of 4 to 7 inches with locally higher amounts resulted in flash flooding across portions of western North Carolina. In addition, very gusty winds cause…
Tropical Storm · Sep 30, 2022. Very gusty winds developed over the North Carolina Piedmont as Tropical Cyclone Ian made a second landfall as a minimal hurricane near Myrtle Beach during the afternoon of the 30th. Frequent wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph, with occasional gusts as high as 50 mph resulted in dozens of trees blown down throughout the area. Multiple trees fell on structures and vehicles, especially in the Charlotte area, where a mobile h…
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 Iredell 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.