States › North Carolina › Alamance County

Alamance County, North Carolina

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 37001 · 173,877 residents (2021) · 423 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 92Tornado · 10Flood · 53Wind · 272Winter · 82

Alamance County within North Carolina. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Alamance County, North Carolina, has 532 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 125.6 events per 100 square miles, in line with the North Carolina figure of 112.5, and 30.6 per 10,000 residents against 51.8 statewide.

22 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 4 deaths and 8 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $3.0B and crop damage at $508M.

FEMA has designated the county in 27 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (emergency, 24 Jan 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 168 claims since 1978, of which 135 were paid, totalling $5.1M (about $38K per paid claim). FEMA counts 338 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($41M a year across 18 hazards).

47 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 1 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

22events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

532events since 19504 deaths, 8 injuries recorded

27disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

168NFIP flood claims$5.1M paid

Compared with North Carolina and the United States

Measure	Alamance County	North Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	532	54,696	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	125.6	112.5	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	30.6	51.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	22	1,437	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	4	622	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$3.0B	$15B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.0	10.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$38K	$28K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	21.9	24.1	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Wind: 2

Wind: 1

Hail: 1Tornado: 2Wind: 4

Hail: 10Tornado: 1Wind: 25

Hail: 14Flood: 7Wind: 17Winter: 7Tropical: 4Heat: 1Cold: 1Other: 2

Hail: 34Tornado: 1Flood: 16Wind: 55Winter: 28Lightning: 3Other: 1

Hail: 27Tornado: 1Flood: 17Wind: 100Winter: 34Tropical: 1Lightning: 4

Hail: 6Tornado: 5Flood: 13Wind: 68Winter: 13Tropical: 1Heat: 3Cold: 1Other: 1

21950s11960s71970s361980s531990s1382000s1842010s1112020s

Recorded events in Alamance County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 369 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 134 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind272

Hail92

Winter82

Flood53

Tornado10

Lightning7

Tropical6

Heat4

Other4

Cold2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	272	—	1.2%	detail
■ Hail	92	—	0.9%	detail
■ Winter	82	—	0.9%	detail
■ Flood	53	2	1.0%	detail
■ Tornado	10	—	0.6%	detail
■ Lightning	7	1	0.9%
■ Tropical	6	1	0.5%
■ Heat	4	—	1.1%
■ Other	4	—	0.4%
■ Cold	2	—	0.3%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
15 Sep 1999	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$3.0B	$500M	—	—	Forecast zone
6 Jul 2025	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	2	—	County
15 Jun 2010	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	1	County
5 Sep 1996	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
4 Jul 2002	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	3	County
10 Sep 1987	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	2	County
19 Mar 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	—	1	County
17 Jul 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$2K	—	—	1	County
17 Sep 2018	Flood	Flood	—	$1.1M	$5.0M	—	—	County
4 Sep 1999	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	—	$3.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
13 Jul 2003	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.4M	—	—	—	County
29 Oct 2020	Strong Wind	Wind	51 mph	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
30 Sep 2022	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$750K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
16 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$580K	—	—	—	County
6 Sep 2008	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$500K	—	—	—	County
25 Feb 2015	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$500K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
11 Oct 2018	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$500K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
13 Apr 2020	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$500K	—	—	—	County
18 Mar 2021	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$500K	—	—	—	County
27 Jul 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$313K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
24 Jan 2026	EM-3637	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
11 Sep 2025	DR-4889	Major disaster	Tropical Depression	Tropical Depression Chantal	Public assistance
26 Sep 2024	EM-3617	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Helene	Public assistance
6 Aug 2024	EM-3608	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	Public assistance
1 Oct 2022	EM-3586	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Ian	Public assistance
2 Aug 2020	EM-3534	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Isaias	Public assistance
25 Mar 2020	DR-4487	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3471	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
3 Sep 2019	EM-3423	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	Public assistance
31 Jan 2019	DR-4412	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Michael	Public assistance
14 Sep 2018	DR-4393	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Public assistance
10 Sep 2018	EM-3401	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Public assistance
7 Oct 2016	EM-3380	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Matthew	Public assistance
31 Mar 2014	DR-4167	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
19 Apr 2011	DR-1969	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3222	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
18 Sep 2004	DR-1553	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ivan	Individual assistance
27 Mar 2003	DR-1457	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Ice Storm	Public assistance
12 Dec 2002	DR-1448	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Ice Storm	Public assistance
31 Jan 2000	DR-1312	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
16 Sep 1999	DR-1292	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Sep 1999	EM-3146	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations	Public assistance
6 Sep 1996	DR-1134	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Fran	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Jan 1996	DR-1087	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96	Public assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3110	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall & Winter Storm	Public assistance
11 Aug 1977	EM-3049	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
2 Mar 1977	EM-3033	Emergency	Snowstorm	Drought & Freezing	Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Alamance County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978168

Paid claims135

Total paid$5.1M

Average paid claim$38K

Repetitive-loss properties144 severe

Residential policies in force3380.6% of 61,545 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	53	49	$3,556,972	$72,591
2024	3	2	$5,606	$2,803
2023	1	1	$6,284	$6,284
2021	1	0	$0	—
2020	4	2	$105,939	$52,969
2019	1	1	$7,665	$7,665
2018	11	8	$63,414	$7,927
2016	7	4	$151,667	$37,917
2015	4	1	$4,188	$4,188
2014	1	1	$3,083	$3,083
2013	1	1	$3,700	$3,700
2012	3	3	$35,778	$11,926
2011	2	2	$13,054	$6,527
2008	5	5	$77,412	$15,482
2006	1	0	$0	—
2004	1	0	$0	—
2003	10	9	$101,636	$11,293
1998	1	1	$9,505	$9,505
1997	1	1	$2,152	$2,152
1996	26	23	$708,236	$30,793
1995	14	10	$183,116	$18,312
1992	1	1	$1,106	$1,106
1990	1	1	$9,906	$9,906
1987	7	4	$44,975	$11,244
1984	2	1	$47	$47

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 77.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$41MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$26,701,737
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$4,933,978
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$2,698,043
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$1,222,886
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$1,088,297
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$1,083,012
Lightning	Relatively High	$910,914
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$867,330
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$729,419
Ice storm	Relatively High	$627,287
Winter weather	Relatively High	$400,831
Drought	Relatively Low	$150,582
Wildfire	Very Low	$16,763
Landslide	Very Low	$336

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles47

Tracks within 50 miles14

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Claudette	2021	74 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	44 mi	52 mph
Nestor	2019	67 mi	46 mph
Michael	2018	45 mi	58 mph
Andrea	2013	74 mi	46 mph
Hanna	2008	77 mi	52 mph
Helene	2000	90 mi	40 mph
Fran	1996	51 mi	75 mph
David	1979	40 mi	46 mph
Alma	1970	46 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1965	74 mi	40 mph
Cindy	1959	84 mi	40 mph
Diane	1955	50 mi	63 mph
Hazel	1954	62 mi	92 mph
Able	1952	47 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	71 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	31 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	71 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	50 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1935	78 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1929	59 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1920	89 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	93 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	66 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1913	81 mi	46 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

27215 50
27253 38
27217 37
27244 17
27258 15
27302 10

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Alamance County, NC?

NCEI records 92 hail events in Alamance County since 1950, in 29 different years; that is about 1.2 recorded events a year. 14 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Alamance County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 10 tornadoes in Alamance County since 1950, 0 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Alamance County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 27 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Alamance County, and how much was paid?

168 NFIP claims since 1978, 135 of them paid, for $5.1M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Alamance County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Alamance County compare with the rest of North Carolina?

125.6 recorded events per 100 square miles against 112.5 statewide, and 1.0 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 10.4. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.