Hurricane Risk in North Carolina

All North Carolina counties ranked by FEMA National Risk Index hurricane score

Hurricane risk — tropical cyclones bringing extreme wind, rain, and storm surge — is rated for 100 of 100 North Carolina counties in FEMA's National Risk Index. New Hanover County carries the state's highest hurricane score at 99.1, with $181M in expected annual hurricane losses.

23 North Carolina counties are rated High or Very High for hurricane, and expected annual losses from hurricane total roughly $1.29B statewide. The full ranking below links to each county's complete 18-hazard risk profile.

County Rankings — Hurricane

#CountyHurricane ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1 New Hanover County
99.1
Very High 0.37 / yr $181M
2 Brunswick County
99.1
Very High 0.37 / yr $111M
3 Onslow County
99.0
Very High 0.38 / yr $171M
4 Carteret County
98.7
Very High 0.46 / yr $109M
5 Craven County
98.6
Very High 0.37 / yr $92M
6 Dare County
97.7
High 0.41 / yr $65M
7 Sampson County
97.5
High 0.27 / yr $35M
8 Duplin County
97.5
High 0.32 / yr $37M
9 Beaufort County
97.5
High 0.36 / yr $40M
10 Pender County
97.2
High 0.35 / yr $43M
11 Columbus County
96.7
High 0.31 / yr $22M
12 Robeson County
96.5
High 0.25 / yr $18M
13 Wayne County
96.5
High 0.26 / yr $24M
14 Bladen County
96.4
High 0.29 / yr $22M
15 Pitt County
96.3
High 0.29 / yr $30M
16 Pamlico County
95.7
High 0.43 / yr $19M
17 Lenoir County
94.9
High 0.31 / yr $15M
18 Hyde County
94.6
High 0.41 / yr $12M
19 Jones County
94.5
High 0.36 / yr $11M
20 Cumberland County
94.0
High 0.24 / yr $19M
21 Washington County
93.8
High 0.33 / yr $10M
22 Hertford County
93.6
High 0.26 / yr $10M
23 Bertie County
93.3
High 0.27 / yr $10M
24 Greene County
92.9
Medium 0.28 / yr $8M
25 Martin County
92.4
Medium 0.27 / yr $11M
26 Tyrrell County
92.1
Medium 0.36 / yr $7M
27 Pasquotank County
91.3
Medium 0.30 / yr $8M
28 Wilson County
90.4
Medium 0.24 / yr $7M
29 Guilford County
90.3
Medium 0.09 / yr $8M
30 Wake County
89.9
Medium 0.18 / yr $12M
31 Nash County
89.7
Medium 0.21 / yr $6M
32 Perquimans County
89.7
Medium 0.30 / yr $6M
33 Chowan County
89.5
Medium 0.29 / yr $6M
34 Durham County
89.4
Medium 0.13 / yr $8M
35 Harnett County
88.9
Medium 0.21 / yr $7M
36 Edgecombe County
88.6
Medium 0.23 / yr $4M
37 Halifax County
88.5
Medium 0.20 / yr $4M
38 Moore County
88.3
Medium 0.17 / yr $6M
39 Scotland County
87.0
Medium 0.21 / yr $3M
40 Forsyth County
86.5
Medium 0.09 / yr $5M
41 Johnston County
86.3
Medium 0.22 / yr $5M
42 Richmond County
86.0
Medium 0.19 / yr $3M
43 Granville County
85.4
Medium 0.15 / yr $4M
44 Warren County
84.9
Medium 0.17 / yr $2M
45 Lee County
84.8
Medium 0.16 / yr $3M
46 Northampton County
84.6
Medium 0.21 / yr $2M
47 Randolph County
84.3
Medium 0.10 / yr $3M
48 Mecklenburg County
84.2
Medium 0.09 / yr $4M
49 Davidson County
84.2
Medium 0.09 / yr $3M
50 Hoke County
84.0
Medium 0.21 / yr $3M
51 Montgomery County
83.6
Medium 0.13 / yr $2M
52 Chatham County
83.4
Medium 0.14 / yr $3M
53 Anson County
82.9
Medium 0.17 / yr $2M
54 Orange County
81.9
Medium 0.11 / yr $3M
55 Alamance County
81.9
Medium 0.11 / yr $3M
56 Union County
81.4
Low 0.11 / yr $3M
57 Currituck County
80.7
Low 0.29 / yr $3M
58 Vance County
79.1
Low 0.14 / yr $1M
59 Rockingham County
78.7
Low 0.09 / yr $1M
60 Gates County
77.9
Low 0.26 / yr $1M
61 Stanly County
77.6
Low 0.11 / yr $2M
62 Catawba County
76.9
Low 0.06 / yr $1M
63 Wilkes County
75.4
Low 0.04 / yr $710K
64 Franklin County
74.6
Low 0.19 / yr $940K
65 Cabarrus County
73.9
Low 0.09 / yr $1M
66 Cleveland County
73.7
Low 0.05 / yr $786K
67 Caswell County
73.6
Low 0.09 / yr $657K
68 Person County
72.5
Low 0.09 / yr $557K
69 Rowan County
72.4
Low 0.09 / yr $711K
70 Camden County
72.4
Low 0.28 / yr $1M
71 Surry County
71.5
Low 0.04 / yr $574K
72 Henderson County
70.4
Low 0.03 / yr $486K
73 Iredell County
70.3
Low 0.07 / yr $744K
74 Gaston County
70.2
Low 0.07 / yr $653K
75 Davie County
70.0
Low 0.08 / yr $597K
76 Stokes County
68.7
Low 0.08 / yr $466K
77 Buncombe County
68.6
Low 0.02 / yr $544K
78 Yadkin County
68.2
Low 0.06 / yr $408K
79 Alexander County
67.8
Low 0.05 / yr $355K
80 Burke County
67.4
Low 0.04 / yr $370K
81 Rutherford County
66.7
Low 0.04 / yr $327K
82 Jackson County
66.6
Low 0.03 / yr $284K
83 Macon County
66.3
Low 0.03 / yr $308K
84 Caldwell County
66.0
Low 0.04 / yr $373K
85 Lincoln County
65.5
Low 0.06 / yr $370K
86 Ashe County
63.5
Low 0.03 / yr $209K
87 Watauga County
61.9
Low 0.03 / yr $214K
88 Avery County
61.5
Low 0.03 / yr $180K
89 McDowell County
60.9
Low 0.04 / yr $183K
90 Polk County
60.9
Low 0.03 / yr $157K
91 Transylvania County
59.9
Low 0.04 / yr $156K
92 Alleghany County
59.1
Low 0.03 / yr $112K
93 Cherokee County
58.4
Very Low 0.02 / yr $136K
94 Haywood County
57.9
Very Low 0.02 / yr $138K
95 Yancey County
54.9
Very Low 0.02 / yr $81K
96 Swain County
54.2
Very Low 0.02 / yr $70K
97 Mitchell County
52.6
Very Low 0.03 / yr $78K
98 Clay County
47.9
Very Low 0.02 / yr $35K
99 Graham County
42.6
Very Low 0.02 / yr $28K
100 Madison County
41.6
Very Low 0.01 / yr $34K

100 North Carolina counties with measurable hurricane risk. See the national hurricane ranking or all North Carolina counties by overall risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which North Carolina county has the highest hurricane risk?

New Hanover County has the highest FEMA hurricane risk score in North Carolina at 99.1 (Very High), with $181M in expected annual losses and about 0.37 events per year.

How many North Carolina counties face significant hurricane risk?

100 North Carolina counties record measurable hurricane risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 23 of them are rated High or Very High.

Other Hazards in North Carolina

Coastal Flood Cold Wave Drought Earthquake Hail Heat Wave Ice Storm Riverine Flood Landslide Lightning Strong Wind Tornado Wildfire Winter Weather