Home / States / North Carolina / Wake
A

Wake, NC

Flood Risk Score: 8/100 · Rank #2982 of 3,277 counties

Wake County in North Carolina has 11 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1996–2022, most recently Hurricane Ian on Oct 1, 2022 (DR-3586). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #2982 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 56 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $1,886,542 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.

8
Risk Score
56
NFIP Claims
$1,886,542
Total Payouts
11
Disasters
$33,688
Avg Claim
56
Active Policies

FEMA Disaster Declarations in Wake County

The 11 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Wake County, NC (1996–2022). Total declarations on record: 11.

DeclaredIncident TypeTitleFEMA Disaster #
Oct 1, 2022HurricaneHurricane IanDR-3586
Aug 2, 2020HurricaneHurricane IsaiasDR-3534
Sep 3, 2019HurricaneHurricane Dorian DR-3423
Sep 10, 2018HurricaneHurricane FlorenceDR-3401
Oct 10, 2016HurricaneHurricane MatthewDR-4285
Oct 7, 2016HurricaneHurricane MatthewDR-3380
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 6, 1996HurricaneHurricane FranDR-1134

Score Breakdown

The composite score of 8 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.

Claims Density
40%
0
Disaster Frequency
25%
23
Claim Severity
20%
0
Year-over-Year Trend
15%
12

Other Counties in North Carolina

CountyGradeScoreClaimsDisasters
NASHA83914
CumberlandA910715
MooreA91811
CurrituckA1014817
WilsonA102815
CamdenA112116
View All Counties in North Carolina

Frequently Asked Questions

How many FEMA disaster declarations does Wake County, NC have?

Wake County, NC has 11 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1996–2022). 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); Hurricane Florence (declared Sep 10, 2018, DR-3401); Hurricane Matthew (declared Oct 10, 2016, DR-4285). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.

What is the flood risk grade for Wake County, NC?

Wake County is graded A (composite score 8/100, low risk). It ranks #2982 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 Wake County?

56 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Wake County, NC, totaling $1,886,542 in payouts. The average claim is $33,688. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.

Has Wake County, NC had any recent flood disasters?

Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Wake County was Hurricane Ian on Oct 1, 2022 (DR-3586). The county has 11 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1996–2022.

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.

For readers using this page as a decision input, the related-entity pages elsewhere on the site provide the comparison set. The most useful comparison for this entity is typically a peer within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states with similar size, similar exposure, or similar geography — not the national-level summary alone.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.