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New Hanover, NC

Flood Risk Score: 15/100 · Rank #585 of 3,277 counties

New Hanover County in North Carolina has 23 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 #585 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 386 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $7,676,614 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.

15
Risk Score
386
NFIP Claims
$7,676,614
Total Payouts
23
Disasters
$19,888
Avg Claim
386
Active Policies

FEMA Disaster Declarations in New Hanover County

The 23 most recent federally declared disasters affecting New Hanover County, NC (1984–2022). Total declarations on record: 23.

DeclaredIncident TypeTitleFEMA Disaster #
Oct 1, 2022HurricaneHurricane IanDR-3586
Oct 14, 2020HurricaneHurricane IsaiasDR-4568
Aug 2, 2020HurricaneHurricane IsaiasDR-3534
Oct 4, 2019HurricaneHurricane DorianDR-4465
Sep 3, 2019HurricaneHurricane Dorian DR-3423
Sep 14, 2018HurricaneHurricane FlorenceDR-4393
Sep 10, 2018HurricaneHurricane FlorenceDR-3401
Oct 10, 2016HurricaneHurricane MatthewDR-4285
Oct 7, 2016HurricaneHurricane MatthewDR-3380
Aug 31, 2011HurricaneHurricane IreneDR-4019
Aug 25, 2011HurricaneHurricane IreneDR-3327
Sep 1, 2010HurricaneHurricane EarlDR-3314
Oct 7, 2005HurricaneHurricane OpheliaDR-1608
Sep 14, 2005HurricaneHurricane OpheliaDR-3254
Sep 5, 2005HurricaneHurricane Katrina EvacuationDR-3222
Sep 18, 2003HurricaneHurricane IsabelDR-1490
Sep 16, 1999HurricaneHurricane Floyd Major Disaster DeclarationsDR-1292
Sep 15, 1999HurricaneHurricane Floyd Emergency DeclarationsDR-3146
Sep 1, 1999HurricaneHurricane DennisDR-3141
Aug 27, 1998HurricaneHurricane BonnieDR-1240
Sep 6, 1996HurricaneHurricane FranDR-1134
Jul 18, 1996HurricaneHurricane BerthaDR-1127
Sep 21, 1984HurricaneHurricane DianaDR-724

Score Breakdown

The composite score of 15 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.

Claims Density
40%
3
Disaster Frequency
25%
49
Claim Severity
20%
1
Year-over-Year Trend
15%
9

Other Counties in North Carolina

CountyGradeScoreClaimsDisasters
AveryA152113
HokeA15113
RobesonA1521115
MontgomeryA15113
AnsonA15013
GatesA15014
View All Counties in North Carolina

Frequently Asked Questions

How many FEMA disaster declarations does New Hanover County, NC have?

New Hanover County, NC has 23 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 New Hanover County, NC?

New Hanover County is graded A (composite score 15/100, low risk). It ranks #585 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 New Hanover County?

386 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in New Hanover County, NC, totaling $7,676,614 in payouts. The average claim is $19,888. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.

Has New Hanover County, NC had any recent flood disasters?

Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting New Hanover County was Hurricane Ian on Oct 1, 2022 (DR-3586). The county has 23 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1984–2022.

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.

Every number on this page links back to FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.

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.