146 flood insurance claims·$8.9M 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 Yancey 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 associated with heavy rain events dominates the flood character of Yancey County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 22 flash flood events resulting in 13 deaths, alongside 8 standard floods and 2 tropical storms. Recent severe impacts occurred in September 2024, when Tropical Cyclone Helene interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce widespread heavy rain showers and embedded thunderstorms across the southern Appalachians, generating multiple flash flood, flood, and tropical storm events on September 26 and 27, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties in FEMA-designated Zone A experience the heaviest claim volume, with 105 total claims averaging $82,963 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Properties in Zone X account for 23 claims with an average payout of $66,597 and an average recorded water depth of 22 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED properties recorded 15 claims averaging $30,734 with an average water depth of 7 inches. Minor claims are also recorded for Zone UNKNOWN (2 claims, averaging $1,433 and 0 inches of water depth) and Zone X_SHADED (1 claim, averaging $0 and 0 inches of water depth). Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A and Zone X, where historical claim volumes and average recorded water depths are most significant.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Yancey County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
121 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 12 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 2024, with 76 claims and $7.8M paid, the year of Hurricane Helene.
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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Yancey 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, 7 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 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 28, 2022 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Fred | Aug 16, 2021 |
| Hurricane Isaias | Jul 31, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 6, 2020 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Sep 1, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
32 since 1996: 22 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $7.0M |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $20.0M · 4 killed |
| Flash Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | $75.0M · 9 killed |
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2021 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2018 | $2,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flash Flood · Sep 26, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
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 Yancey 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.