States › North Carolina › Bertie County

Bertie 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 37015 · 17,505 residents (2021) · 699 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 38Tornado · 32Flood · 32Wind · 97Winter · 45

Bertie 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 294 events for Bertie County, North Carolina, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 42.0 events per 100 square miles, below the North Carolina figure of 112.5, and 168.0 per 10,000 residents against 51.8 statewide.

3 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 21 deaths and 111 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $61M and crop damage at $23M.

FEMA has designated the county in 28 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 423 claims since 1978, of which 385 were paid, totalling $13M (about $34K per paid claim). FEMA counts 95 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" ($17M a year across 18 hazards).

121 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 5 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

3events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

294events since 195021 deaths, 111 injuries recorded

28disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

423NFIP flood claims$13M paid

Compared with North Carolina and the United States

Measure	Bertie County	North Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	294	54,696	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	42.0	112.5	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	168.0	51.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	3	1,437	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	21	622	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$61M	$15B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	24.2	10.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$34K	$28K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	3.2	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: 2Wind: 1

Hail: 1Tornado: 2Wind: 2

Tornado: 3Wind: 5

Hail: 6Tornado: 4Wind: 11

Hail: 8Tornado: 6Flood: 3Wind: 20Winter: 5Tropical: 7Heat: 1Cold: 1Other: 2

Hail: 14Tornado: 6Flood: 11Wind: 22Winter: 14Tropical: 1Cold: 2Other: 4

Hail: 3Tornado: 7Flood: 10Wind: 24Winter: 20Tropical: 4Heat: 2Cold: 2Other: 13

Hail: 6Tornado: 2Flood: 8Wind: 12Winter: 6Tropical: 3Heat: 2Other: 6

31950s51960s81970s211980s531990s742000s852010s452020s

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

Trend: 164 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 102 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

Wind97

Winter45

Hail38

Tornado32

Flood32

Other25

Tropical15

Heat5

Cold5

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	97	—	0.4%	detail
■ Winter	45	—	0.5%	detail
■ Hail	38	—	0.4%	detail
■ Tornado	32	20	1.9%	detail
■ Flood	32	1	0.6%	detail
■ Other	25	—	2.5%
■ Tropical	15	—	1.3%
■ Heat	5	—	1.4%
■ Cold	5	—	0.6%

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
16 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$2.3M	—	12	55	County
28 Mar 1984	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	6	19	County
4 Aug 2020	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$1.0M	—	2	14	County
15 Sep 1999	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
16 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$250K	—	—	8	County
10 May 1952	Tornado	Tornado	F2	—	—	—	6	County
28 Mar 1984	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25M	—	—	2	County
15 Sep 1999	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$8.8M	$17M	—	—	Forecast zone
11 May 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.0M	—	—	2	County
11 Nov 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	$125K	—	—	2	County
8 Nov 1957	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	1	County
7 Apr 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$30K	—	—	1	County
29 Mar 1991	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	—	1	County
27 Aug 2011	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$800K	$5.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
8 Oct 2016	Flood	Flood	—	$5.0M	—	—	—	County
21 Sep 2016	Flood	Flood	—	$4.0M	$1.0M	—	—	County
26 Aug 1998	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$3.4M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
18 Sep 2003	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$2.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
8 Oct 2016	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
4 Aug 2020	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$500K	—	—	—	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
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
3 Sep 2019	EM-3423	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	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
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
19 Apr 2011	DR-1969	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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
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
27 Aug 1998	DR-1240	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Bonnie	Individual 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
30 Mar 1984	DR-699	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, 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 Bertie County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978423

Paid claims385

Total paid$13M

Average paid claim$34K

Repetitive-loss properties9812 severe

Residential policies in force950.9% of 10,696 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2024	1	1	$15,122	$15,122
2022	1	1	$2,468	$2,468
2018	1	1	$40,114	$40,114
2016	172	161	$5,540,433	$34,413
2013	2	1	$1,512	$1,512
2011	20	17	$270,164	$15,892
2010	122	114	$5,040,759	$44,217
2006	1	1	$8,264	$8,264
2005	1	1	$1,888	$1,888
2003	30	23	$710,524	$30,892
2001	4	4	$17,478	$4,370
1999	54	53	$1,392,084	$26,266
1998	4	2	$9,674	$4,837
1996	2	2	$10,692	$5,346
1995	1	0	$0	—
1993	1	0	$0	—
1991	2	2	$11,811	$5,905
1990	2	1	$2,375	$2,375
1989	1	0	$0	—
1980	1	0	$0	—

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 66.4 of 100

Expected annual loss$17MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Relatively High	$9,676,316
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$3,996,118
Tornado	Relatively Low	$1,276,374
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$606,778
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$391,448
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$323,854
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$250,728
Hail	Relatively Low	$174,057
Earthquake	Very Low	$152,156
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$122,701
Lightning	Relatively Low	$113,849
Coastal flooding	Relatively Low	$27,865
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$26,965
Wildfire	Very Low	$13,705
Landslide	Very Low	$70

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 miles121

Tracks within 50 miles31

Hurricane strength within 50 miles5

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Ophelia	2023	34 mi	69 mph
Claudette	2021	26 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	57 mi	52 mph
Isaias	2020	97 mi	69 mph
Dorian	2019	97 mi	98 mph
Nestor	2019	67 mi	46 mph
Michael	2018	51 mi	58 mph
Hermine	2016	81 mi	69 mph
Arthur	2014	75 mi	98 mph
Irene	2011	54 mi	86 mph
Hanna	2008	68 mi	52 mph
Barry	2007	75 mi	46 mph
Gabrielle	2007	65 mi	58 mph
Alberto	2006	49 mi	40 mph
Ernesto	2006	40 mi	46 mph
Charley	2004	83 mi	46 mph
Gaston	2004	81 mi	40 mph
Isabel	2003	60 mi	104 mph
Kyle	2002	75 mi	46 mph
Helene	2000	54 mi	46 mph
Dennis	1999	57 mi	69 mph
Floyd	1999	26 mi	81 mph
Bonnie	1998	50 mi	86 mph
Earl	1998	17 mi	58 mph
Danny	1997	28 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

27983 362
27957 30
27805 19
27924 16
27849 5

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 Bertie County, NC?

NCEI records 38 hail events in Bertie County since 1950, in 20 different years; that is about 0.5 recorded events a year. 20 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Bertie County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 32 tornadoes in Bertie County since 1950, 13 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 20.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Bertie County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 28 declarations since 1953.

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

423 NFIP claims since 1978, 385 of them paid, for $13M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Bertie 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, "Very High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

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

42.0 recorded events per 100 square miles against 112.5 statewide, and 24.2 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.