States › North Carolina › Beaufort County

Beaufort 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 37013 · 44,468 residents (2021) · 833 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 137Tornado · 38Flood · 32Wind · 201Winter · 34

Beaufort 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.

The NCEI record lists 506 events for Beaufort County, North Carolina, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 60.8 events per 100 square miles, below the North Carolina figure of 112.5, and 113.8 per 10,000 residents against 51.8 statewide.

27 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 11 deaths and 101 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $95M and crop damage at $89M.

FEMA has designated the county in 32 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 9,462 claims since 1978, of which 8,122 were paid, totalling $131M (about $16K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2,915 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Moderate" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Moderate" ($54M a year across 18 hazards).

142 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 19 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

27events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

506events since 195011 deaths, 101 injuries recorded

32disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

9,462NFIP flood claims$131M paid

Compared with North Carolina and the United States

Measure	Beaufort County	North Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	506	54,696	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	60.8	112.5	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	113.8	51.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	27	1,437	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	11	622	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$95M	$15B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	212.8	10.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$16K	$28K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	46.1	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

Tornado: 1Wind: 1

Tornado: 4Wind: 4

Hail: 3Tornado: 2Wind: 3

Hail: 2Tornado: 3Wind: 9

Hail: 16Tornado: 4Flood: 5Wind: 21Winter: 6Tropical: 10Cold: 1

Hail: 71Tornado: 13Flood: 6Wind: 38Winter: 10Tropical: 7Cold: 1Lightning: 2Other: 4

Hail: 38Tornado: 5Flood: 19Wind: 65Winter: 11Tropical: 9Heat: 2Drought: 3Other: 2

Hail: 7Tornado: 6Flood: 2Wind: 60Winter: 7Tropical: 8Heat: 5Drought: 10

21950s81960s81970s141980s631990s1522000s1542010s1052020s

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

Trend: 321 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 132 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

Wind201

Hail137

Tornado38

Winter34

Tropical34

Flood32

Drought13

Heat7

Other6

Cold2

Lightning2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	201	2	0.9%	detail
■ Hail	137	—	1.4%	detail
■ Tornado	38	2	2.2%	detail
■ Winter	34	5	0.4%	detail
■ Tropical	34	2	3.0%
■ Flood	32	—	0.6%	detail
■ Drought	13	—	0.8%
■ Heat	7	—	2.0%
■ Other	6	—	0.6%
■ Cold	2	—	0.3%
■ Lightning	2	—	0.2%

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
2 Feb 1996	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$45K	—	2	12	Forecast zone
19 Jan 1998	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	2	1	Forecast zone
1 Jul 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	—	—	2	—	County
25 Apr 2014	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$15M	—	1	16	County
26 Aug 2011	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$10M	$10M	1	1	Forecast zone
27 Apr 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25K	—	1	1	County
16 Oct 1999	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
3 Jan 2018	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
1 Jul 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	—	—	—	40	County
14 Mar 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	20	County
30 Sep 2010	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$500K	$55M	—	—	County
7 Apr 2014	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.0M	—	—	5	County
26 Aug 2011	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$40M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
17 May 1963	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	2	County
17 Sep 2003	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$3.6M	$9.2M	—	—	Forecast zone
8 Oct 1996	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$30K	—	—	1	County
27 May 1960	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25K	—	—	1	County
4 Sep 1996	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$10M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
5 Jun 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	1	County
12 Jul 1996	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$250K	$6.0M	—	—	Forecast zone

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
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
3 Mar 2021	DR-4588	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Eta	Public assistance
14 Oct 2020	DR-4568	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isaias	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
4 Oct 2019	DR-4465	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	Public assistance
3 Sep 2019	EM-3423	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	Public assistance
14 Sep 2018	DR-4393	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Sep 2018	EM-3401	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Public assistance
10 Oct 2016	DR-4285	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Matthew	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Oct 2016	EM-3380	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Matthew	Public assistance
31 Aug 2011	DR-4019	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Aug 2011	EM-3327	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
14 Oct 2010	DR-1942	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Straight-Line Winds	Individual assistance
1 Sep 2010	EM-3314	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Earl	Public assistance
8 Oct 2008	DR-1801	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Hanna	Public assistance
14 Sep 2005	EM-3254	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Ophelia	Public assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3222	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
18 Sep 2003	DR-1490	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isabel	Individual assistance, 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
9 Sep 1999	DR-1291	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dennis	Individual assistance
1 Sep 1999	EM-3141	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dennis	Public assistance
27 Aug 1998	DR-1240	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Bonnie	Individual assistance, Public assistance
6 Sep 1996	DR-1134	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Fran	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Jul 1996	DR-1127	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Bertha	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3110	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall & Winter Storm	Public assistance
10 Feb 1968	DR-234	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Ice Storm	Individual assistance, 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 Beaufort County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19789,462

Paid claims8,122

Total paid$131M

Average paid claim$16K

Repetitive-loss properties1,318310 severe

Residential policies in force2,91513.5% of 21,664 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	1	$411	$411
2025	3	1	$43,263	$43,263
2024	12	6	$31,724	$5,287
2023	107	92	$1,012,329	$11,004
2022	10	8	$51,284	$6,411
2021	1	1	$12,603	$12,603
2020	17	16	$129,378	$8,086
2019	10	7	$53,328	$7,618
2018	1,177	1,080	$23,912,752	$22,141
2017	7	6	$41,209	$6,868
2016	155	127	$2,448,656	$19,281
2015	28	16	$133,261	$8,329
2014	18	13	$96,448	$7,419
2013	3	2	$13,105	$6,553
2012	5	2	$2,062	$1,031
2011	1,684	1,477	$40,923,207	$27,707
2010	137	101	$1,419,151	$14,051
2009	10	7	$141,347	$20,192
2008	16	10	$62,452	$6,245
2006	52	40	$398,914	$9,973
2005	74	64	$985,841	$15,404
2004	7	0	$0	—
2003	686	616	$5,315,710	$8,629
2002	2	0	$0	—
2001	18	11	$49,768	$4,524

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 Moderatescore 88.2 of 100

Expected annual loss$54MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Relatively High	$40,409,340
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$6,381,797
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$2,276,146
Coastal flooding	Relatively Moderate	$1,999,692
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$707,680
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$651,342
Winter weather	Relatively High	$468,739
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$418,293
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$402,511
Earthquake	Very Low	$186,400
Hail	Relatively Low	$132,874
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$97,595
Drought	Relatively Low	$95,449
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$80,911
Landslide	Very Low	$213

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 miles142

Tracks within 50 miles60

Hurricane strength within 50 miles19

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Ophelia	2023	30 mi	69 mph
Claudette	2021	41 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	96 mi	52 mph
Arthur	2020	92 mi	52 mph
Isaias	2020	78 mi	69 mph
Dorian	2019	70 mi	104 mph
Florence	2018	91 mi	98 mph
Michael	2018	85 mi	58 mph
Hermine	2016	45 mi	69 mph
Matthew	2016	72 mi	81 mph
Arthur	2014	49 mi	98 mph
Beryl	2012	69 mi	52 mph
Irene	2011	31 mi	86 mph
Cristobal	2008	80 mi	52 mph
Hanna	2008	72 mi	52 mph
Barry	2007	49 mi	46 mph
Gabrielle	2007	36 mi	58 mph
Alberto	2006	37 mi	40 mph
Ernesto	2006	80 mi	58 mph
Ophelia	2005	74 mi	86 mph
Alex	2004	92 mi	98 mph
Charley	2004	98 mi	69 mph
Isabel	2003	36 mi	104 mph
Gustav	2002	88 mi	63 mph
Kyle	2002	53 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

27889 3,789
27810 3,731
27817 804
27808 582
27806 440
27814 119
27860 48
27865 23

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 Beaufort County, NC?

NCEI records 137 hail events in Beaufort County since 1950, in 33 different years; that is about 1.8 recorded events a year. 29 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Beaufort County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 38 tornadoes in Beaufort County since 1950, 10 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 2.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Beaufort County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 32 declarations since 1953.

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

9,462 NFIP claims since 1978, 8,122 of them paid, for $131M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

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

60.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 112.5 statewide, and 212.8 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.