States › North Carolina › Brunswick County

Brunswick 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 37019 · 144,215 residents (2021) · 850 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 139Tornado · 45Flood · 136Wind · 155Winter · 5

Brunswick 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 565 events for Brunswick County, North Carolina, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 66.5 events per 100 square miles, below the North Carolina figure of 112.5, and 39.2 per 10,000 residents against 51.8 statewide.

3 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 5 deaths and 16 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $114M and crop damage at $77M.

FEMA has designated the county in 35 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 9,879 claims since 1978, of which 6,025 were paid, totalling $99M (about $16K per paid claim). FEMA counts 18,204 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Moderate" ($153M a year across 18 hazards).

146 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 23 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

3events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

565events since 19505 deaths, 16 injuries recorded

35disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

9,879NFIP flood claims$99M paid

Compared with North Carolina and the United States

Measure	Brunswick County	North Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	565	54,696	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	66.5	112.5	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	39.2	51.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	3	1,437	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	5	622	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$114M	$15B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	68.5	10.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$16K	$28K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	13.7	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: 1

Tornado: 2Wind: 5

Hail: 2Tornado: 4Wind: 6

Hail: 11Tornado: 1Wind: 15

Hail: 27Tornado: 8Flood: 14Wind: 43Tropical: 8Drought: 1Lightning: 2

Hail: 53Tornado: 5Flood: 13Wind: 27Winter: 4Tropical: 8Drought: 7Wildfire: 2Lightning: 6Fog: 1Other: 9

Hail: 39Tornado: 9Flood: 61Wind: 44Winter: 1Lightning: 19Other: 12

Hail: 7Tornado: 15Flood: 48Wind: 15Lightning: 3Other: 7

11950s71960s121970s271980s1031990s1352000s1852010s952020s

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

Trend: 332 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 197 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

Wind155

Hail139

Flood136

Tornado45

Lightning30

Other28

Tropical16

Drought8

Winter5

Wildfire2

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	155	—	0.7%	detail
■ Hail	139	—	1.4%	detail
■ Flood	136	1	2.5%	detail
■ Tornado	45	3	2.7%	detail
■ Lightning	30	1	3.7%
■ Other	28	—	2.8%
■ Tropical	16	—	1.4%
■ Drought	8	—	0.5%
■ Winter	5	—	0.1%
■ Wildfire	2	—	6.1%
■ Fog	1	—	1.5%

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 Feb 2021	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	—	—	3	10	County
17 Jul 2004	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
16 Sep 2024	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
26 Aug 1998	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$35M	$64M	—	—	Forecast zone
15 Sep 1999	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$50M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Nov 2001	Dense Fog	Fog	—	$6K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
5 Sep 2019	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$2.0M	—	—	1	County
12 Jul 1996	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$2.0M	$9.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
15 Jun 2014	Lightning	Lightning	—	$5K	—	—	1	County
20 Aug 2013	Lightning	Lightning	—	$2K	—	—	1	County
1 Jul 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	1	County
14 Aug 2004	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$6.3M	$2.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
5 Sep 1996	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$5.0M	$2.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
14 Sep 2005	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$2.3M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
7 Oct 2005	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
8 Oct 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
8 Oct 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
8 Oct 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
3 Aug 2020	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
18 Sep 1994	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$500K	—	—	—	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
3 May 2025	FM-5582	Fire management assistance	Fire	Sunset Drive Fire	Public assistance
19 Oct 2024	DR-4837	Major disaster	Tropical Storm	Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight	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
4 Oct 2019	DR-4465	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	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	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
7 Oct 2005	DR-1608	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ophelia	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
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
25 Sep 1989	DR-844	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Hugo	Individual assistance, Public assistance
21 Sep 1984	DR-724	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Diana	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 Brunswick County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19789,879

Paid claims6,025

Total paid$99M

Average paid claim$16K

Repetitive-loss properties83676 severe

Residential policies in force18,20421.5% of 84,693 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	0	$0	—
2025	5	2	$72,374	$36,187
2024	300	259	$13,578,241	$52,426
2023	10	8	$280,767	$35,096
2022	112	76	$968,508	$12,744
2021	11	5	$40,721	$8,144
2020	880	634	$9,309,577	$14,684
2019	16	8	$115,910	$14,489
2018	1,149	813	$24,797,341	$30,501
2017	6	2	$10,631	$5,315
2016	424	240	$3,356,549	$13,986
2015	111	66	$1,824,214	$27,640
2014	21	6	$24,150	$4,025
2013	5	3	$24,574	$8,191
2012	4	2	$31,102	$15,551
2011	26	4	$16,483	$4,121
2010	58	36	$474,270	$13,174
2009	7	6	$48,980	$8,163
2008	25	15	$139,975	$9,332
2007	1	0	$0	—
2006	8	7	$52,288	$7,470
2005	208	107	$1,699,864	$15,887
2004	396	18	$369,939	$20,552
2003	18	2	$11,724	$5,862
2002	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 Highscore 95.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$153MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Very High	$110,639,565
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$24,360,678
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$4,501,549
Coastal flooding	Relatively High	$4,380,906
Wildfire	Relatively Moderate	$1,907,070
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$1,690,768
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,565,747
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,481,316
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,092,420
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$813,796
Ice storm	Relatively High	$430,944
Winter weather	Relatively High	$395,264
Hail	Very Low	$69,665
Drought	Very Low	$16,422
Landslide	Very Low	$259

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 miles146

Tracks within 50 miles58

Hurricane strength within 50 miles23

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Chantal	2025	51 mi	58 mph
Idalia	2023	54 mi	63 mph
Ophelia	2023	67 mi	69 mph
Colin	2022	81 mi	40 mph
Ian	2022	66 mi	81 mph
Claudette	2021	83 mi	46 mph
Isaias	2020	18 mi	92 mph
Eta	2020	93 mi	46 mph
Dorian	2019	48 mi	104 mph
Nestor	2019	89 mi	46 mph
Florence	2018	10 mi	104 mph
Colin	2016	60 mi	52 mph
Hermine	2016	64 mi	63 mph
Matthew	2016	54 mi	81 mph
Ana	2015	34 mi	52 mph
Arthur	2014	53 mi	98 mph
Andrea	2013	83 mi	46 mph
Beryl	2012	45 mi	46 mph
Irene	2011	93 mi	86 mph
Cristobal	2008	53 mi	52 mph
Hanna	2008	32 mi	69 mph
Barry	2007	25 mi	46 mph
Ernesto	2006	12 mi	69 mph
Ophelia	2005	43 mi	86 mph
Alex	2004	86 mi	81 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

28465 2,847
28462 2,408
28469 1,601
28461 1,432
28459 510
28468 236
28467 211
28451 174
28422 123
28470 83
28420 40
28500 23
28479 22
28000 13
27313 8
28359 8
28112 6

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 Brunswick County, NC?

NCEI records 139 hail events in Brunswick County since 1950, in 34 different years; that is about 1.8 recorded events a year. 16 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Brunswick County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 45 tornadoes in Brunswick County since 1950, 4 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 3.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Brunswick County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 35 declarations since 1953.

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

9,879 NFIP claims since 1978, 6,025 of them paid, for $99M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

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

66.5 recorded events per 100 square miles against 112.5 statewide, and 68.5 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.