65 flood insurance claims·$1.1M paid·3 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 Rowan 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 slow-moving thunderstorms and heavy rainfall systems dominates the flood history of Rowan County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 29 flash flood events, compared to 13 general floods and 3 tropical storms. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including a June 2025 system that dropped 2.5 to 4 inches of rain, causing flooding across southern Rowan County, and the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby in August 2024, which produced 4 to 7 inches of rain and subsequent flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Properties in Zone A recorded 24 claims with an average water depth of 11 inches and an average payout of $42,690. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X (Unshaded) logged 23 claims with an average water depth of 5 inches and an average payout of $13,739, while Zone X properties recorded 15 claims with an average water depth of 1 inch and an average payout of $17,739. Zone X (Shaded) accounted for 3 claims averaging 2 inches of water depth and a $700 payout.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, which face the highest average water depths and claim payouts, while remaining aware that moderate and low-risk zones also experience recorded claims and water accumulation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
52% of Rowan County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
50 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 6 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 2018, with 14 claims and $146,166 paid, the year of Hurricane Florence.
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 Rowan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 3 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.
45 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 5, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 30, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 31, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Nov 13, 2020 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 5, 2025. Widespread showers and embedded thunderstorms developed across the North Carolina Piedmont during the morning in the vicinity of a weak frontal boundary. An area of flooding developed across southern Rowan County in response to 2.5 to 4 inches of rain falling over several hours.
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…
Flash Flood · Jun 20, 2023. Waves of showers and thunderstorms developed in the vicinity of a stalled frontal zone, and in the vicinity of the Blue Ridge escarpment in response to upslope flow. The result was localized areas of heavy-to-excessive rainfall, with anywhere from 5 to 10 inches reported over a 24-36 hour period. Isolated flash flooding developed across portions of the foothills and the Piedmont.
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 Rowan 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.