Columbus, NC
Columbus County in North Carolina has 22 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1984–2022, most recently Hurricane Ian on Oct 1, 2022 (DR-3586). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #334 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 64 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $2,408,849 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Columbus County
The 22 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Columbus County, NC (1984–2022). Total declarations on record: 22.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2022 | Hurricane | Hurricane Ian | DR-3586 |
| Oct 14, 2020 | Hurricane | Hurricane Isaias | DR-4568 |
| Aug 2, 2020 | Hurricane | Hurricane Isaias | DR-3534 |
| Oct 4, 2019 | Hurricane | Hurricane Dorian | DR-4465 |
| Sep 3, 2019 | Hurricane | Hurricane Dorian | DR-3423 |
| Sep 14, 2018 | Hurricane | Hurricane Florence | DR-4393 |
| Sep 10, 2018 | Hurricane | Hurricane Florence | DR-3401 |
| Oct 10, 2016 | Hurricane | Hurricane Matthew | DR-4285 |
| Oct 7, 2016 | Hurricane | Hurricane Matthew | DR-3380 |
| Aug 31, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-4019 |
| Aug 25, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-3327 |
| Sep 1, 2010 | Hurricane | Hurricane Earl | DR-3314 |
| Sep 14, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Ophelia | DR-3254 |
| Sep 5, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | DR-3222 |
| Sep 10, 2004 | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Frances | DR-1546 |
| Sep 18, 2003 | Hurricane | Hurricane Isabel | DR-1490 |
| Sep 16, 1999 | Hurricane | Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations | DR-1292 |
| Sep 15, 1999 | Hurricane | Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations | DR-3146 |
| Aug 27, 1998 | Hurricane | Hurricane Bonnie | DR-1240 |
| Sep 6, 1996 | Hurricane | Hurricane Fran | DR-1134 |
| Jul 18, 1996 | Hurricane | Hurricane Bertha | DR-1127 |
| Sep 21, 1984 | Hurricane | Hurricane Diana | DR-724 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 18 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in North Carolina
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chowan | A | 18 | 6 | 19 |
| Duplin | A | 18 | 58 | 19 |
| Greene | A | 18 | 13 | 19 |
| Jones | A | 19 | 28 | 21 |
| Harnett | A | 19 | 13 | 12 |
| Union | A | 19 | 9 | 10 |
More Counties in North Carolina
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Columbus County, NC have?
Columbus County, NC has 22 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1984–2022). The 5 most recent are: Hurricane Ian (declared Oct 1, 2022, DR-3586); Hurricane Isaias (declared Oct 14, 2020, DR-4568); Hurricane Isaias (declared Aug 2, 2020, DR-3534); Hurricane Dorian (declared Oct 4, 2019, DR-4465); Hurricane Dorian (declared Sep 3, 2019, DR-3423). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Columbus County, NC?
Columbus County is graded A (composite score 18/100, low risk). It ranks #334 of 3,277 U.S. counties for flood risk in our scoring model. The grade combines NFIP claims density (40%), disaster frequency (25%), claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%).
How many NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Columbus County?
64 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Columbus County, NC, totaling $2,408,849 in payouts. The average claim is $37,638. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Columbus County, NC had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Columbus County was Hurricane Ian on Oct 1, 2022 (DR-3586). The county has 22 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1984–2022.
For this entity, the underlying data on this page comes from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. The breakdown above is the federal record; the paragraphs below add the per-entity context that makes the headline numbers usable for a real decision rather than just a data lookup.
The methodology behind every numeric value on this page is publicly documented on the FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims portal and described in detail on this site’s methodology page. Refresh cadence varies by underlying series; the page surfaces the as-of date for each number so readers can trace any figure back to the source release.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.