McDowell, NC
McDowell County in North Carolina has 11 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1973–2022, most recently Hurricane Ian on Oct 1, 2022 (DR-3586). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #850 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 13 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $2,417,509 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in McDowell County
The 11 most recent federally declared disasters affecting McDowell County, NC (1973–2022). Total declarations on record: 11.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2022 | Hurricane | Hurricane Ian | DR-3586 |
| Aug 2, 2020 | Hurricane | Hurricane Isaias | DR-3534 |
| Sep 3, 2019 | Hurricane | Hurricane Dorian | DR-3423 |
| Jan 31, 2019 | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Michael | DR-4412 |
| Sep 14, 2018 | Hurricane | Hurricane Florence | DR-4393 |
| Sep 10, 2018 | Hurricane | Hurricane Florence | DR-3401 |
| Sep 5, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | DR-3222 |
| Sep 18, 2004 | Hurricane | Hurricane Ivan | DR-1553 |
| Sep 10, 2004 | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Frances | DR-1546 |
| Nov 9, 1977 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-542 |
| Jun 25, 1973 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-394 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 13 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in North Carolina
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | A | 13 | 4 | 11 |
| Mitchell | A | 13 | 3 | 11 |
| Pitt | A | 13 | 56 | 20 |
| Caswell | A | 13 | 0 | 11 |
| Chatham | A | 13 | 7 | 12 |
| Rockingham | A | 13 | 3 | 11 |
More Counties in North Carolina
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does McDowell County, NC have?
McDowell County, NC has 11 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1973–2022). The 5 most recent are: Hurricane Ian (declared Oct 1, 2022, DR-3586); Hurricane Isaias (declared Aug 2, 2020, DR-3534); Hurricane Dorian (declared Sep 3, 2019, DR-3423); Tropical Storm Michael (declared Jan 31, 2019, DR-4412); Hurricane Florence (declared Sep 14, 2018, DR-4393). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for McDowell County, NC?
McDowell County is graded A (composite score 13/100, low risk). It ranks #850 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 McDowell County?
13 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in McDowell County, NC, totaling $2,417,509 in payouts. The average claim is $185,962. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has McDowell County, NC had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting McDowell County was Hurricane Ian on Oct 1, 2022 (DR-3586). The county has 11 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1973–2022.
The this entity record above pulls directly from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. flood risk, NFIP claims, and disaster declarations distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.
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.