States › North Carolina › 2021
North Carolina, 2021
The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.
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.
Events by hazard
Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 2021 was 892 against 1,685 in 2020.
Counties with the most recorded events
Notable events
| Date | County | Event type | Magnitude | Property damage | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Aug 2021 | Haywood | Flash Flood | — | $200,000,000 | 5 | — |
| 15 Feb 2021 | Brunswick | Tornado | EF3 | — | 3 | 10 |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Haywood | Debris Flow | — | $200,000 | 1 | — |
| 13 Aug 2021 | Avery | Lightning | — | — | — | 7 |
| 11 Jul 2021 | Yadkin | Thunderstorm Wind | 58 mph | $35,500 | — | 3 |
| 10 Aug 2021 | Yadkin | Thunderstorm Wind | 58 mph | $15,000 | — | 3 |
| 8 Sep 2021 | Durham | Lightning | — | — | — | 3 |
| 29 May 2021 | Johnston | Thunderstorm Wind | 58 mph | $15,000 | — | 1 |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Watauga | Flood | — | $15,000 | — | 1 |
| 4 May 2021 | Martin | Thunderstorm Wind | 58 mph | — | — | 1 |
| 4 May 2021 | Tyrrell | Thunderstorm Wind | 58 mph | — | — | 1 |
| 16 Aug 2021 | Transylvania | Flash Flood | — | $6,000,000 | — | — |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Transylvania | Flash Flood | — | $4,000,000 | — | — |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Buncombe | Flood | — | $1,000,000 | — | — |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Transylvania | Flood | — | $1,000,000 | — | — |
| 7 Oct 2021 | Rutherford | Flash Flood | — | $750,000 | — | — |
| 18 Mar 2021 | Guilford | Tornado | EF1 | $500,000 | — | — |
| 18 Mar 2021 | Alamance | Tornado | EF1 | $500,000 | — | — |
| 18 Mar 2021 | Guilford | Tornado | EF1 | $500,000 | — | — |
| 7 Oct 2021 | McDowell | Flash Flood | — | $500,000 | — | — |
| 1 Dec 2021 | Stokes | Wildfire | — | $364,000 | — | — |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Madison | Flash Flood | — | $250,000 | — | — |
| 2 Jun 2021 | Columbus | Tornado | EF0 | $200,000 | — | — |
| 9 Oct 2021 | Wake | Flash Flood | — | $200,000 | — | — |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Catawba | Lightning | — | $150,000 | — | — |
| 18 Mar 2021 | Orange | Tornado | EF1 | $150,000 | — | — |
| 26 Mar 2021 | Gaston | Flood | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Avery | Flash Flood | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 17 Aug 2021 | Henderson | Flash Flood | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 12 Feb 2021 | Guilford | Winter Storm | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 12 Feb 2021 | Forsyth | Winter Storm | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 12 Feb 2021 | Person | Winter Storm | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 12 Feb 2021 | Vance | Winter Storm | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 12 Feb 2021 | Granville | Winter Storm | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 12 Feb 2021 | Warren | Winter Storm | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 18 Mar 2021 | Northampton | Thunderstorm Wind | 85 mph | $100,000 | — | — |
| 10 May 2021 | Alamance | Tornado | EF1 | $100,000 | — | — |
| 19 Jul 2021 | Sampson | Flash Flood | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 27 Jul 2021 | Johnston | Flash Flood | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 7 Oct 2021 | Henderson | Flash Flood | — | $100,000 | — | — |
Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.
Federal disaster declarations in 2021
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Sep 2021 | DR-4617 | Major disaster | Hurricane | Remnants Of Tropical Storm Fred | 11 |
| 3 Mar 2021 | DR-4588 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Tropical Storm Eta | 19 |
Flood insurance claims with a 2021 date of loss
484 NFIP claims, 379 of them paid, for $18,948,848.
Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (29 Sep 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 30 Sep 2026.