12 flood insurance claims·$174,497 paid·5 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 Vance 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 severe storms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Vance County, North Carolina. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 16 flash flood events resulting in one death, alongside 5 hurricane events, 2 general flood events, and 1 tropical storm. The primary flash flood threat is highlighted by storms such as those in May 2025, when training and back-building weather systems tracked from South Carolina into central North Carolina, producing rainfall rates of 3 or more inches per hour in areas including Henderson.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Properties in Zone X account for 4 claims with an average payout of $30,524 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED accounts for 4 claims with an average payout of $1,660 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Zone A properties account for 3 claims with an average payout of $17,082 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches, while Zone V records 1 claim with an average payout of $13,260 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and Zone V, as well as areas susceptible to intense, localized rainfall and flash flooding similar to the May 2025 events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
The worst year was 2020, with 2 claims and $31,722 paid, the year of Hurricane Isaias.
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.
12 NOAA storm reports from Vance County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Carolina flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 5 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 |
| Tropical Storm Michael | Oct 10, 2018 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 7, 2018 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
24 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 11, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 24, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 17, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 11, 2018 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 8, 2016 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 29, 2025. Storms over South Carolina in association with a mid-level system tracked into central North Carolina in the afternoon and evening hours. The storms initially produced a wind damage and isolated hail threat. Thereafter, the event evolved into a flash flood threat, with training and back building storms resulting in 3 or more inches per hour rainfall rates from Albemarle to Greensboro to Burlington to Henderson.
Flash Flood · Aug 11, 2025. A weak frontal zone was oriented southwest to northeast across central North Carolina. Scattered showers and storms developed during the late afternoon and evening within a highly anomalous moisture environment. Some training storms led to several instances of flash flooding over the eastern and northeastern Piedmont, especially across Wake County.
Flash Flood · Sep 24, 2024. A stalled frontal boundary over central North Carolina slowly edged northward into Virginia. That northward movement combined with forcing aloft to produce scattered to numerous showers and storms in the evening and into the early morning hours of 25 September. Severe gusts occurred in Randolph County, as well as flash flooding over the northern and northeast Piedmont.
Flood · Jun 17, 2020. A slow moving upper-level low combined with a surge of warmer and more moist air that moved over a cooler air mass near the surface produced multiple rounds of rain, showers, and thunderstorms across the Coastal Plain and the northeast Piedmont of North Carolina during the morning hours. Widespread rain fell across the area during the previous day or two saturating the soil and raising stream and creek levels. A n…
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 Vance 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.