4,432 flood insurance claims·$70.5M paid·11 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 Onslow 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 floods and inland flooding dominate the recorded flood events in Onslow County, driven by frequent heavy rainfall and tropical weather systems. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last 30 years, flash floods account for 47 events, followed by 13 general floods, 5 tropical storms, and 1 coastal flood. Recent impacts include severe weather brought by Tropical Storm Debby in August 2024 and Hurricane Idalia in August 2023, both of which tracked northward through the region after making landfall in Florida and triggered significant flash flooding across eastern North Carolina.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks affect properties across multiple zones. Zone A has experienced the highest impact with 3,001 claims averaging a payout of $20,423 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Zone V follows with 818 claims averaging $25,302 and an average water depth of 8 inches. Zone X accounts for 430 claims with an average payout of $36,799 and an average water depth of 9 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 100 claims averaging $19,912 with an average water depth of 7 inches, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 47 claims averaging $17,028 with an average water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists in Onslow County should pay the closest attention to properties located in Zone A and Zone V, where the highest volume of insurance claims and significant average water depths occur, as well as properties in Zone X that have experienced higher average payout costs per claim.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Onslow County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
3,966 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 10 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 1,445 claims and $19.6M paid, the year of Hurricane Bertha and 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Onslow County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1996, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 21, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight | Sep 16, 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
66 since 1996: 47 flash floods, 13 river or area floods and 1 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 12, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 8, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 31, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 28, 2025. Slow moving thunderstorms produced isolated areas of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · May 13, 2025. Slow moving thunderstorms produced isolated areas of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · May 12, 2025. Slow moving thunderstorms produced isolated areas of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Aug 1, 2025. Slow moving thunderstorms produced isolated areas of flash flooding.
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 Onslow 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.