States › North Carolina › Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg 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 37119 · 1,122,276 residents (2021) · 524 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 246Tornado · 28Flood · 126Wind · 453Winter · 71

Mecklenburg 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 1,047 events for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 200.0 events per 100 square miles, above the North Carolina figure of 112.5, and 9.3 per 10,000 residents against 51.8 statewide.

10 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 21 deaths and 53 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $112M and crop damage at $1.0M.

FEMA has designated the county in 18 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 2,883 claims since 1978, of which 2,233 were paid, totalling $62M (about $28K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2,468 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 High" ($318M a year across 18 hazards).

43 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.

10events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,047events since 195021 deaths, 53 injuries recorded

18disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

2,883NFIP flood claims$62M paid

Compared with North Carolina and the United States

Measure	Mecklenburg County	North Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,047	54,696	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	200.0	112.5	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	9.3	51.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	10	1,437	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	21	622	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$112M	$15B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.6	10.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$28K	$28K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	17.9	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

Hail: 3Wind: 5

Hail: 2Tornado: 5Wind: 5

Hail: 6Tornado: 5Wind: 11

Hail: 44Tornado: 2Wind: 37

Hail: 41Tornado: 5Flood: 16Wind: 72Winter: 13Heat: 1Cold: 2Drought: 7Lightning: 4Fog: 1Other: 1

Hail: 65Tornado: 3Flood: 41Wind: 117Winter: 26Cold: 5Drought: 26Lightning: 27Other: 12

Hail: 70Tornado: 3Flood: 48Wind: 143Winter: 25Tropical: 1Heat: 3Cold: 3Lightning: 15Other: 8

Hail: 15Tornado: 5Flood: 21Wind: 63Winter: 7Tropical: 3Cold: 2Drought: 2

81950s121960s221970s831980s1631990s3222000s3192010s1182020s

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

Trend: 556 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 405 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

Wind453

Hail246

Flood126

Winter71

Lightning46

Drought35

Tornado28

Other21

Cold12

Tropical4

Heat4

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	453	6	2.0%	detail
■ Hail	246	—	2.5%	detail
■ Flood	126	6	2.3%	detail
■ Winter	71	—	0.8%	detail
■ Lightning	46	3	5.7%
■ Drought	35	—	2.1%
■ Tornado	28	—	1.7%	detail
■ Other	21	—	2.1%
■ Cold	12	2	1.6%
■ Tropical	4	2	0.4%
■ Heat	4	2	1.1%
■ 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
29 Jul 2003	Lightning	Lightning	—	$30K	—	3	1	County
23 Jul 1997	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$8.5M	—	3	—	County
27 Sep 2024	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$3.0M	—	2	—	Forecast zone
29 Jun 1998	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
18 Jul 2010	Strong Wind	Wind	40 mph	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
5 Aug 2011	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	2	—	County
7 Mar 2004	High Wind	Wind	75 mph	$75K	—	1	2	Forecast zone
22 May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	$500K	—	1	1	County
4 Feb 1996	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
23 Jan 1999	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
17 Apr 2001	High Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
20 Jan 2008	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
9 Mar 2008	Strong Wind	Wind	52 mph	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
10 Mar 1992	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	18	County
3 Mar 2012	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.5M	—	—	4	County
4 Dec 2002	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$40M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
2 May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$25K	—	—	3	County
12 Jul 2000	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	—	3	County
27 Sep 2024	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$25M	—	—	—	County
2 May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	75 mph	$100K	—	—	2	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
28 Sep 2024	DR-4827	Major disaster	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Helene	Individual assistance, 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
10 Sep 2018	EM-3401	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Public assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3222	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
10 Sep 2004	DR-1546	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Frances	Individual 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
13 Jan 1996	DR-1087	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96	Public assistance
25 Sep 1989	DR-844	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Hugo	Individual assistance, 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 Mecklenburg County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19782,883

Paid claims2,233

Total paid$62M

Average paid claim$28K

Repetitive-loss properties31453 severe

Residential policies in force2,4680.8% of 310,835 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	2	2	$42,942	$21,471
2025	27	23	$758,863	$32,994
2024	159	137	$10,000,642	$72,997
2023	7	3	$249,701	$83,234
2022	5	4	$71,624	$17,906
2021	11	6	$299,827	$49,971
2020	99	82	$4,157,740	$50,704
2019	64	56	$3,572,391	$63,793
2018	59	43	$993,188	$23,097
2017	9	4	$12,578	$3,144
2016	5	4	$34,689	$8,672
2015	25	14	$174,724	$12,480
2014	15	9	$74,856	$8,317
2013	51	42	$1,063,894	$25,331
2012	21	16	$218,905	$13,682
2011	73	60	$2,679,301	$44,655
2010	125	103	$865,467	$8,403
2009	117	111	$1,563,179	$14,083
2008	425	354	$11,538,448	$32,594
2007	5	4	$41,524	$10,381
2006	70	62	$934,662	$15,075
2005	14	12	$105,913	$8,826
2004	47	37	$1,128,673	$30,505
2003	260	217	$5,605,760	$25,833
2002	2	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 97.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$318MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$256,410,844
Tornado	Relatively High	$24,454,435
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$10,959,092
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$6,328,294
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$5,053,179
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$4,033,683
Hail	Relatively High	$3,318,162
Strong wind	Relatively High	$2,730,968
Lightning	Relatively High	$2,237,262
Ice storm	Relatively High	$1,968,490
Winter weather	Relatively High	$344,680
Wildfire	Very Low	$118,745
Drought	Very Low	$24,842
Landslide	Relatively Low	$8,455

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 miles43

Tracks within 50 miles10

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Debby	2024	54 mi	46 mph
Claudette	2021	99 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	75 mi	46 mph
Nestor	2019	98 mi	46 mph
Michael	2018	53 mi	52 mph
Alberto	2006	66 mi	40 mph
Hugo	1989	66 mi	63 mph
Bob	1985	36 mi	52 mph
David	1979	27 mi	52 mph
Alma	1970	69 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1965	99 mi	40 mph
Gracie	1959	41 mi	52 mph
Able	1952	17 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1952	96 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	81 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1946	90 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	79 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1935	65 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1929	75 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1927	17 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	71 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	14 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1913	78 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1912	52 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1907	41 mi	40 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

28205 563
28207 415
28215 399
28209 317
28211 201
28214 201
28226 158
28208 69
28216 68
28210 64
28206 51
28217 39
28227 37
28213 35
28105 33
28203 32
28270 27
28212 24
28031 21
28078 19
28204 18
28277 18
28134 13
28273 10
28241 7
28269 7
28278 7
28237 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 Mecklenburg County, NC?

NCEI records 246 hail events in Mecklenburg County since 1950, in 49 different years; that is about 3.2 recorded events a year. 37 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Mecklenburg County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 28 tornadoes in Mecklenburg County since 1950, 6 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Mecklenburg County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 18 declarations since 1953.

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

2,883 NFIP claims since 1978, 2,233 of them paid, for $62M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

200.0 recorded events per 100 square miles against 112.5 statewide, and 2.6 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.