42 flood insurance claims·$621,349 paid·6 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 Martin 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 and tropical systems dominates the flood risk in Martin County. Over the last 30 years, recorded events include 23 flash floods, 10 tropical storms, 8 hurricanes, and 2 general floods. Specific recent events include flash flooding from slow-moving thunderstorms on July 11, 2024, and tropical systems such as Hurricane Isaias on August 4, 2020, and Hurricane Florence on September 13, 2018.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across multiple zones. Properties in Zone X account for 22 claims with an average payout of $19,463 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Properties in Zone A account for 18 claims with an average payout of $16,952 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone X_SHADED accounts for 1 claim with an average payout of $1,107 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN accounts for 1 claim with an average payout of $1,172 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in both standard risk areas like Zone X and high-risk flood zones like Zone A, as both areas have experienced consistent claim activity and structural water intrusion.
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 2016, with 9 claims and $283,568 paid, the year of Hurricane Matthew.
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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Martin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 6 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.
43 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 30, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 13, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 14, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 8, 2016 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 8, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 15, 2025. Slow moving thunderstorms produced areas of significant flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Sep 30, 2024. Slow moving thunderstorms produced isolated areas of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jul 11, 2024. Slow moving thunderstorms produced very heavy rain and several areas of flash flooding across Eastern NC.
Tropical Storm · Aug 4, 2020. Hurricane Isaias originated from a vigorous tropical wave off the coast of Africa that was first identified by the National Hurricane Center on July 23, 2020. The tropical wave gradually became more organized, and became Tropical Storm Isaias on July 30. Isaias marked the earliest ninth named storm on record, surpassing 2005's Hurricane Irene by eight days. Isaias strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane the next…
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 Martin 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.