Riverine Flood Risk in North Carolina

All North Carolina counties ranked by FEMA National Risk Index riverine flood score

Riverine Flood risk — rivers and streams overflowing their banks after heavy rain or snowmelt — is rated for 100 of 100 North Carolina counties in FEMA's National Risk Index. Mecklenburg County carries the state's highest riverine flood score at 99.0, with $256M in expected annual riverine flood losses.

4 North Carolina counties are rated High or Very High for riverine flood, and expected annual losses from riverine flood total roughly $2.05B statewide. The full ranking below links to each county's complete 18-hazard risk profile.

County Rankings — Riverine Flood

#CountyRiverine Flood ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1 Mecklenburg County
99.0
High 3.50 / yr $256M
2 Wake County
97.7
High 4.64 / yr $222M
3 Guilford County
96.6
High 3.14 / yr $101M
4 Forsyth County
94.7
High 1.57 / yr $72M
5 Union County
92.5
Medium 2.43 / yr $73M
6 Durham County
92.4
Medium 2.07 / yr $57M
7 Cabarrus County
92.2
Medium 2.25 / yr $65M
8 Buncombe County
91.7
Medium 1.43 / yr $48M
9 Davidson County
91.5
Medium 1.86 / yr $44M
10 New Hanover County
89.9
Medium 2.46 / yr $46M
11 Wilkes County
89.7
Medium 1.64 / yr $25M
12 Wayne County
89.3
Medium 1.32 / yr $28M
13 Cumberland County
89.2
Medium 2.14 / yr $41M
14 Gaston County
88.5
Medium 0.93 / yr $36M
15 Pitt County
87.7
Medium 1.14 / yr $31M
16 Brunswick County
87.6
Medium 2.11 / yr $24M
17 Johnston County
87.1
Medium 1.61 / yr $32M
18 Iredell County
86.6
Medium 0.79 / yr $35M
19 Robeson County
86.4
Medium 0.71 / yr $16M
20 Orange County
85.5
Medium 1.29 / yr $33M
21 Catawba County
85.1
Medium 1.00 / yr $27M
22 Rowan County
84.8
Medium 1.07 / yr $25M
23 Randolph County
84.8
Medium 1.64 / yr $23M
24 Henderson County
84.0
Medium 2.64 / yr $19M
25 Alamance County
83.9
Medium 1.25 / yr $27M
26 Haywood County
83.6
Medium 1.07 / yr $20M
27 Jackson County
83.2
Medium 1.14 / yr $15M
28 Lincoln County
83.2
Medium 0.89 / yr $23M
29 Rockingham County
83.0
Medium 1.89 / yr $18M
30 Nash County
82.5
Medium 1.00 / yr $19M
31 Watauga County
80.3
Medium 3.07 / yr $17M
32 Burke County
79.3
Medium 2.04 / yr $15M
33 Rutherford County
79.2
Medium 0.89 / yr $14M
34 Lenoir County
79.1
Medium 1.07 / yr $13M
35 Caldwell County
79.0
Medium 2.18 / yr $18M
36 Onslow County
78.6
Medium 1.54 / yr $23M
37 Surry County
77.3
Medium 2.04 / yr $15M
38 Wilson County
77.2
Medium 1.11 / yr $15M
39 Ashe County
76.8
Medium 2.21 / yr $12M
40 Moore County
76.4
Medium 1.25 / yr $17M
41 Edgecombe County
76.1
Medium 1.25 / yr $11M
42 Craven County
76.0
Medium 0.93 / yr $14M
43 Cleveland County
75.2
Medium 0.57 / yr $15M
44 Chatham County
74.4
Medium 1.04 / yr $15M
45 Harnett County
73.9
Medium 1.00 / yr $17M
46 Halifax County
73.4
Medium 1.21 / yr $9M
47 McDowell County
72.5
Low 1.18 / yr $12M
48 Lee County
71.7
Low 0.82 / yr $11M
49 Macon County
70.8
Low 1.21 / yr $10M
50 Stanly County
69.9
Low 2.11 / yr $14M
51 Pender County
69.7
Low 1.75 / yr $13M
52 Sampson County
69.6
Low 1.25 / yr $8M
53 Cherokee County
67.9
Low 0.61 / yr $9M
54 Transylvania County
67.1
Low 2.43 / yr $9M
55 Duplin County
66.4
Low 1.00 / yr $8M
56 Bladen County
65.7
Low 0.71 / yr $8M
57 Granville County
65.2
Low 0.64 / yr $10M
58 Columbus County
64.6
Low 1.14 / yr $7M
59 Avery County
64.4
Low 1.14 / yr $8M
60 Carteret County
64.2
Low 1.14 / yr $10M
61 Swain County
62.5
Low 0.89 / yr $6M
62 Alexander County
60.3
Low 0.43 / yr $7M
63 Davie County
58.6
Low 0.39 / yr $9M
64 Beaufort County
58.3
Low 0.68 / yr $6M
65 Stokes County
58.0
Low 0.71 / yr $7M
66 Richmond County
57.6
Low 0.75 / yr $6M
67 Scotland County
56.4
Low 0.68 / yr $5M
68 Franklin County
56.0
Low 0.79 / yr $8M
69 Warren County
55.9
Low 0.79 / yr $5M
70 Montgomery County
55.6
Low 1.18 / yr $6M
71 Yancey County
55.4
Low 0.89 / yr $5M
72 Vance County
55.2
Low 0.36 / yr $5M
73 Martin County
55.0
Low 0.57 / yr $6M
74 Person County
54.5
Low 0.64 / yr $6M
75 Yadkin County
53.2
Low 0.82 / yr $6M
76 Anson County
51.3
Low 1.50 / yr $4M
77 Hertford County
50.9
Low 0.57 / yr $4M
78 Dare County
50.3
Low 0.46 / yr $7M
79 Pasquotank County
47.6
Low 0.61 / yr $5M
80 Madison County
46.8
Low 1.36 / yr $6M
81 Polk County
46.7
Low 0.82 / yr $4M
82 Bertie County
46.4
Low 0.75 / yr $4M
83 Northampton County
44.7
Low 0.54 / yr $3M
84 Clay County
43.8
Low 0.25 / yr $3M
85 Hoke County
43.3
Low 0.82 / yr $4M
86 Alleghany County
41.1
Low 0.93 / yr $3M
87 Mitchell County
39.8
Low 0.82 / yr $4M
88 Greene County
39.5
Low 0.68 / yr $3M
89 Graham County
38.0
Low 0.36 / yr $3M
90 Caswell County
37.7
Low 1.04 / yr $4M
91 Jones County
28.5
Very Low 0.57 / yr $2M
92 Currituck County
24.5
Very Low 0.50 / yr $5M
93 Washington County
20.8
Very Low 0.29 / yr $2M
94 Pamlico County
17.7
Very Low 0.43 / yr $2M
95 Perquimans County
15.9
Very Low 0.39 / yr $2M
96 Chowan County
13.9
Very Low 0.32 / yr $1M
97 Gates County
13.8
Very Low 0.46 / yr $2M
98 Hyde County
12.7
Very Low 0.25 / yr $956K
99 Tyrrell County
8.5
Very Low 0.07 / yr $731K
100 Camden County
6.3
Very Low 0.46 / yr $1M

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Which North Carolina county has the highest riverine flood risk?

Mecklenburg County has the highest FEMA riverine flood risk score in North Carolina at 99.0 (High), with $256M in expected annual losses and about 3.50 events per year.

How many North Carolina counties face significant riverine flood risk?

100 North Carolina counties record measurable riverine flood risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 4 of them are rated High or Very High.

Other Hazards in North Carolina

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