Dare County, North Carolina

What hazards hit Dare County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 173 since 1958. The rank column places the county among North Carolina's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Dare County had?

NOAA records 40 tornadoes in Dare County from 1952 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 22 injuries recorded in the county. That is 3rd of 100 North Carolina counties and 72nd of 3,080 U.S. counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 41 tornadoes whose track touched Dare County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 40: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in North Carolina.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Dare County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the August 10, 2023 lightning ($484,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Lightning struck a home in Duck, resulting in a major house fire.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1130898)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Dare County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Dare County. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Dare County

FEMA's register lists 31 declarations that include Dare County: 15 major disasters, 16 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (22) and tropical storm (3).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Dare County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 45 flood or flash flood records for Dare County from 2000 to 2026, on 27 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Dare County ranks 24th of 2,942 U.S. counties. The 100 counties with the most claims

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $231 million on 18,950 claims filed in Dare County; the most in one year was 3,462 in 2011. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Dare County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Dare County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $80.8 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Dare County

1. Dare County 459
2. Currituck County 378
3. Hyde County 253
4. Tyrrell County 158

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in North CarolinaEvery North Carolina tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in North CarolinaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The North Carolina recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Dare CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Dare County's FEMA declarations (CSV)31 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis