States › North Carolina › Wake County

Wake 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 37183 · 1,150,204 residents (2021) · 835 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 393Tornado · 40Flood · 291Wind · 761Winter · 69

Wake 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 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 1,645 events for Wake County, North Carolina, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 197.1 events per 100 square miles, above the North Carolina figure of 112.5, and 14.3 per 10,000 residents against 51.8 statewide.

51 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 21 deaths and 241 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $573M and crop damage at $20M.

FEMA has designated the county in 26 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 1,642 claims since 1978, of which 1,270 were paid, totalling $31M (about $25K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2,790 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" ($299M a year across 18 hazards).

75 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 3 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

51events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,645events since 195021 deaths, 241 injuries recorded

26disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

1,642NFIP flood claims$31M paid

Compared with North Carolina and the United States

Measure	Wake County	North Carolina	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,645	54,696	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	197.1	112.5	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	14.3	51.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	51	1,437	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	21	622	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$573M	$15B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.4	10.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$25K	$28K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	6.3	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: 1Tornado: 5Wind: 2

Hail: 2Tornado: 3Wind: 3

Hail: 7Tornado: 4Wind: 12

Hail: 28Tornado: 6Wind: 53

Hail: 65Tornado: 8Flood: 18Wind: 55Winter: 6Tropical: 5Heat: 1Cold: 1Lightning: 3Other: 2

Hail: 124Tornado: 3Flood: 57Wind: 144Winter: 21Tropical: 2Heat: 1Lightning: 9Other: 5

Hail: 97Tornado: 9Flood: 80Wind: 260Winter: 29Tropical: 4Wildfire: 1Lightning: 23

Hail: 69Tornado: 2Flood: 136Wind: 232Winter: 13Tropical: 2Heat: 5Cold: 1Lightning: 6Other: 20

81950s81960s231970s871980s1641990s3662000s5032010s4862020s

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

Trend: 1,217 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 341 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

Wind761

Hail393

Flood291

Winter69

Lightning41

Tornado40

Other27

Tropical13

Heat7

Cold2

Wildfire1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	761	4	3.3%	detail
■ Hail	393	—	4.0%	detail
■ Flood	291	1	5.4%	detail
■ Winter	69	2	0.8%	detail
■ Lightning	41	4	5.0%
■ Tornado	40	7	2.4%	detail
■ Other	27	—	2.7%
■ Tropical	13	3	1.2%
■ Heat	7	—	2.0%
■ Cold	2	—	0.3%
■ Wildfire	1	—	3.0%

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	$115M	—	4	67	County
28 Nov 1988	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$250M	—	2	105	County
5 Sep 1996	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	—	—	3	—	Forecast zone
4 Dec 2010	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	1	2	Forecast zone
11 Jan 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	86 mph	—	—	1	2	County
4 May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$10K	—	1	1	County
1 Apr 1997	High Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	1	1	Forecast zone
28 Jul 2018	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	1	County
8 Oct 2016	Strong Wind	Wind	45 mph	$500K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
13 Jun 1982	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	1	—	County
24 Jul 1999	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
13 Jul 2005	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
9 Apr 2015	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
3 Jan 2018	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
12 Nov 2020	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
15 Apr 1996	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$3.0M	—	—	26	County
13 May 2019	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$95M	—	—	—	County
2 Nov 1966	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	9	County
21 Aug 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	8	County
8 Oct 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$66M	—	—	—	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
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
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
19 Apr 2011	DR-1969	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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
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
22 Mar 1998	DR-1211	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms Tornadoes, And Flooding	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
17 Mar 1993	EM-3110	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall & Winter Storm	Public assistance
2 Dec 1988	DR-818	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance
11 Aug 1977	EM-3049	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
2 Mar 1977	EM-3033	Emergency	Snowstorm	Drought & Freezing	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 Wake County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781,642

Paid claims1,270

Total paid$31M

Average paid claim$25K

Repetitive-loss properties14926 severe

Residential policies in force2,7900.8% of 338,927 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	4	1	$3,279	$3,279
2025	7	6	$84,908	$14,151
2024	14	9	$274,418	$30,491
2023	4	2	$22,368	$11,184
2022	8	5	$262,876	$52,575
2021	17	16	$1,060,962	$66,310
2020	24	18	$174,032	$9,668
2019	15	10	$164,721	$16,472
2018	39	28	$870,330	$31,083
2017	43	33	$471,620	$14,292
2016	182	156	$6,020,401	$38,592
2015	3	0	$0	—
2014	24	18	$292,618	$16,257
2013	32	26	$376,176	$14,468
2012	6	2	$25,755	$12,877
2011	19	13	$264,001	$20,308
2010	6	2	$20,517	$10,259
2009	20	15	$204,122	$13,608
2008	4	4	$54,730	$13,682
2007	7	5	$76,882	$15,376
2006	185	172	$7,415,567	$43,114
2005	6	3	$37,230	$12,410
2004	6	4	$12,033	$3,008
2003	29	24	$491,624	$20,484
2002	64	47	$678,998	$14,447

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 95.5 of 100

Expected annual loss$299MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$221,684,606
Tornado	Relatively High	$20,021,385
Heat wave	Relatively High	$14,722,390
Hail	Relatively High	$12,700,965
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$11,939,866
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$6,728,811
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$5,938,494
Lightning	Relatively High	$2,141,345
Ice storm	Relatively High	$1,528,829
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$861,164
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$425,204
Drought	Relatively Low	$247,772
Wildfire	Very Low	$114,537
Landslide	Relatively Low	$10,550

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 miles75

Tracks within 50 miles23

Hurricane strength within 50 miles3

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Ophelia	2023	73 mi	58 mph
Claudette	2021	60 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	28 mi	52 mph
Isaias	2020	63 mi	69 mph
Nestor	2019	54 mi	46 mph
Michael	2018	72 mi	58 mph
Andrea	2013	41 mi	46 mph
Hanna	2008	31 mi	52 mph
Alberto	2006	68 mi	40 mph
Ernesto	2006	96 mi	58 mph
Charley	2004	94 mi	69 mph
Isabel	2003	82 mi	75 mph
Helene	2000	45 mi	40 mph
Dennis	1999	57 mi	40 mph
Earl	1998	82 mi	58 mph
Bertha	1996	80 mi	75 mph
Fran	1996	41 mi	75 mph
Allison	1995	94 mi	46 mph
Diana	1984	66 mi	52 mph
David	1979	86 mi	46 mph
Agnes	1972	72 mi	46 mph
Ginger	1971	72 mi	63 mph
Alma	1970	7 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1965	60 mi	40 mph
Isbell	1964	57 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

27604 285
27609 285
27608 223
27606 99
27518 90
27610 90
27612 74
27511 73
27607 52
27529 43
27615 40
27603 37
27613 37
27526 30
27513 29
27597 22
27619 19
27560 17
27540 15
27587 11
27591 10
27605 10
27614 10
27616 9
27628 8
27545 6
27600 6
27601 6
27519 5
27539 5
27602 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 Wake County, NC?

NCEI records 393 hail events in Wake County since 1950, in 48 different years; that is about 5.1 recorded events a year. 71 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Wake County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 40 tornadoes in Wake County since 1950, 9 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 7.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Wake County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 26 declarations since 1953.

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

1,642 NFIP claims since 1978, 1,270 of them paid, for $31M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Wake 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 "Very High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

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

197.1 recorded events per 100 square miles against 112.5 statewide, and 1.4 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 29 Sep 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 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.