5,889 flood insurance claims·$117.4M paid·12 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 Pender 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.
Pender County is primarily characterized by flash flooding, which accounts for 66 out of 112 total flood events recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events Database, resulting in 1 death. Other documented events include 26 general floods, 14 tropical storms, 3 hurricanes, 2 storm surge/tide events, and 1 coastal flood. Recent historical impacts are illustrated by Tropical Storm Debby, which brought heavy rainfall and flash flooding to the area in August 2024 after making landfalls in Florida and South Carolina and tracking near the state border.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate significant historical claims across various zones. Zone A has logged 3,566 claims with an average payout of $30,130 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone V accounts for 1,245 claims averaging $15,685 with a 5-inch average water depth. Moderate and lower-risk areas have also experienced claims, including 555 claims in Zone X_SHADED (average payout $15,891, average 10 inches water depth) and 430 claims in Zone X (average payout $56,073, average 4 inches water depth). An additional 63 claims were filed in Zone UNKNOWN, averaging $22,644 with a 5-inch average water depth.
Property owners and real estate professionals working in high-risk zones, particularly Zone A and Zone V which hold the vast majority of historical flood claims, should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Pender County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
5,396 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 7 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 2,067 claims and $29.2M 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.
32 NOAA storm reports from Pender County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1984, 12 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 6, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Sep 1, 2019 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 7, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
112 since 1996: 66 flash floods, 26 river or area floods and 3 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 11, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 31, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 22, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jul 20, 2023 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Sep 30, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 11, 2024. Deep moisture and a stalled frontal boundary left the area very susceptible to flash flooding from isolated, slow moving storms.
Flash Flood · Aug 9, 2024. After making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on August 5, Debby weakened to a tropical storm as it slowly moved across southeastern Georgia and offshore before making another landfall along the central SC coast between Charleston and Georgetown. The storm then moved northwest to near the SC/NC border and weakened to a tropical depression on August 8 before quickly becoming a non-…
Flash Flood · Aug 8, 2024. After making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on August 5, Debby weakened to a tropical storm as it slowly moved across southeastern Georgia and offshore before making another landfall along the central SC coast between Charleston and Georgetown. The storm then moved northwest to near the SC/NC border and weakened to a tropical depression on August 8 before quickly becoming a non-…
Flash Flood · Aug 31, 2023. Tropical Storm Idalia moved northeast across southeast North Carolina bringing flooding from heavy rain and storm surge, a few tropical storm force wind gusts and tornadoes late August 30 into August 31. Previously the storm was a Category 4 hurricane. weakening to Category 3 as it made landfall near Perry, Florida. Locally all sustained tropical storm force winds remained offshore.
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 Pender 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.