588 flood insurance claims·$8.6M paid·7 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 Tyrrell 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.
Tyrrell County is primarily characterized by tropical storm and hurricane flooding, as documented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's storm event database. Over a thirty-year period, the county experienced 13 tropical storm events and 10 hurricane events, alongside lesser counts of flash flood, storm surge, and coastal flood events.
Major historical storms illustrate this vulnerability. Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 brought widespread heavy rain ranging from 2 to 4 inches on southern beaches to 8 to 12 inches inland, resulting in significant flash flooding. Hurricane Florence in September 2018 impacted the region as a historic, wet tropical cyclone, while Hurricane Isaias in August 2020 and Hurricane Michael in October 2018 also affected the area as tropical storms.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood impacts are heavily concentrated in specific areas. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of historical claims with 557 filings, averaging an $18,365 payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Properties located in Zone A should pay the most attention to flood risk, given the heavy concentration of claims compared to Zone X, Zone X Unshaded, Zone V, and unknown zones, which logged significantly fewer claims and lower average payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Tyrrell County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
571 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 2 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 2011, with 215 claims and $3.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding and Hurricane Irene.
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 Tyrrell County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1998, 7 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.
27 since 1996: 2 flash floods and 2 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 13, 2018 | $1.2M |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 11, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 8, 2016 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 8, 2016 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 4, 2015 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Jun 6, 2013 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2012 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Tropical Storm · Sep 13, 2018. Hurricane Florence was a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane and the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the Carolinas. The sixth named storm, third hurricane, and the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, Florence originated from a strong tropical wave that emerged off the west coast of Africa on August 30, 2018. Florence became a tropical depression near Cape Verde on August 31 and progresse…
Tropical Storm · Oct 11, 2018. Hurricane Michael was the third-most intense hurricane to make landfall in the United States, behind only the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and Hurricane Camille in 1969. The storm made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida as a Category 4 storm on October 10, 2018, with top winds of 155 mph and a central pressure of 919 mb. Once inland, Michael weakened rapidly and was a Tropical Storm on October 11 as it moved across i…
Flash Flood · Oct 8, 2016. Hurricane Matthew moved northeast offshore of the North Carolina coast late on October 8th through October 9th. Widespread heavy rain developed on October 8th and continued through early on October 9th as Matthew approached and moved offshore of the coast. Rainfall ranged from 2 to 4 inches on the southern beaches to 8 to 12 inches inland. This rain led to significant flash flooding over much of eastern North Car…
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 Tyrrell 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.