18 flood insurance claims·$246,662 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 Stokes 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.
Stokes County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by flash floods and general river flooding, driven primarily by slow-moving summer thunderstorms, strong frontal systems, and tropical moisture feeds. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 24 flash flood events, 14 flood events, and 2 tropical storm events. Recent activity includes heavy rainfall and flash flooding on January 9, 2024, resulting from a deep upper-level trough and strong southerly moisture flow from the Gulf of Mexico, as well as training showers and thunderstorms on September 17, 2024, driven by a stationary front and moist Atlantic air. Slow-moving storms on August 21, 2025, produced rainfall rates as high as 5 inches per hour in western Stokes County and the Town of King.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones with distinct claim characteristics. Zone X accounts for 8 claims with an average payout of $34,685 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Zone A accounts for 6 claims averaging a $7,870 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches. Properties with unknown zone designations account for 4 claims averaging a $19,110 payout with an average water depth of 5 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone X and unmapped or unknown zones should pay close attention to flood risk, given the significant average water depths and payouts recorded in these areas during intense local precipitation events.
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 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 2004, with 5 claims and $86,858 paid, the year of Hurricane Ivan.
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.
28 NOAA storm reports from Stokes County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 4 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 |
| Tropical Storm Eta | Nov 12, 2020 |
| Hurricane Isaias | Jul 31, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 6, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
40 since 1996: 24 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | $150,000 |
| Flood | Sep 18, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Sep 17, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 17, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 17, 2024 | $325,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 17, 2024 | $350,000 |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 21, 2025. A cluster of slow-moving thunderstorms passed across eastern Surry County and western Stokes County during the evening of August 21st. Rainfall rates within some of the stronger storms were observed to be as high as 5 inches per hour. The FLASH 3-hour ARI in the Town of King was observed to be as high as a 20-year event at 11 pm EDT, while the 3-hour QPE/FFG ratio was observed reaching 105.
Flood · Sep 18, 2024. A stationary front draped east to west across northern North Carolina provided the focus for training showers and thunderstorms during the evening of the 17th. Winds were from the east along the North Carolina & Virginia state border around high pressure centered over New England. The easterly windflow carried moist Atlantic air across Stokes and Rockingham Counties, with precipitable water values ranging from 1…
Flood · Sep 17, 2024. A stationary front draped east to west across northern North Carolina provided the focus for training showers and thunderstorms during the evening of the 17th. Winds were from the east along the North Carolina & Virginia state border around high pressure centered over New England. The easterly windflow carried moist Atlantic air across Stokes and Rockingham Counties, with precipitable water values ranging from 1…
Flash Flood · Sep 17, 2024. A stationary front draped east to west across northern North Carolina provided the focus for training showers and thunderstorms during the evening of the 17th. Winds were from the east along the North Carolina & Virginia state border around high pressure centered over New England. The easterly windflow carried moist Atlantic air across Stokes and Rockingham Counties, with precipitable water values ranging from 1…
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 Stokes 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.