FEMA Records
29
High volume
North Carolina · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lenoir County, NC
29 FEMA disaster declarations (1968-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 29
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Lenoir County. Its 29 FEMA declarations are 21% above the North Carolina county mean and exceed the count for 85% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 15%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 29
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 835
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 37107 · Lenoir County 29 declarations · rank 447/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 29
- MAJOR-LIGHT 48%
- RANK-MID #447
- PHOTO-FINISH Bath
- NRI-MID 85
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +21%
Nearest declaration peer: Bath, KY (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · North Carolina state profile
Lenoir County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Lenoir County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bath · near 29
Bath · near
29 declarations
- Houston · near 29
Houston · near
29 declarations
- Lenoir · this county 29
Lenoir · this county
29 declarations
- Walthall · near 29
Walthall · near
29 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Lenoir County carries 29 FEMA declaration records, ranked 447 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Lenoir County ranks in the national declaration registry
Lenoir County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Lenoir County
29 Top 15% higher than 85% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Lenoir County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lenoir County is led by Hurricane (about $14.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Winter Weather carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Lenoir County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 835 claims and $44.4M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $53.2K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Lenoir County's 29 federal records stand 21% above the North Carolina county mean of 24.0. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 84.6/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $35.7M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 3.4 times per year here, based on 65 historical events on record.
68 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Lenoir County, NC · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) High
21/30
29 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
29 declarations (1.2x state county average of 24)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
12/25
14 of 29 declarations are major disasters (48%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Lenoir County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lenoir County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
48%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lenoir County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 3.4 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 3 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 8.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 994 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 53 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 7.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 5,119 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 83 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 18 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 20
Tropical Storm 2
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Severe Storm 1
Snowstorm 1
Tornado 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Lenoir County's federal record, 69% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Emergency - 15 51.7%
of all 29 declarations
Major Disaster - 14 48.3%
of all 29 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 29 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 29 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3637 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3617 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-26 |
| 3608 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-06 |
| 3586 | HURRICANE IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-10-01 |
| 4568 | HURRICANE ISAIAS | DR | Hurricane | 2020-10-14 |
| 3534 | HURRICANE ISAIAS | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-02 |
| 4487 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3471 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4465 | HURRICANE DORIAN | DR | Hurricane | 2019-10-04 |
| 3423 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-09-03 |
| 4393 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | DR | Hurricane | 2018-09-14 |
| 3401 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-10 |
| 4285 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | DR | Hurricane | 2016-10-10 |
| 3380 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | EM | Hurricane | 2016-10-07 |
| 4019 | HURRICANE IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-08-31 |
| 3327 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-25 |
| 3314 | HURRICANE EARL | EM | Hurricane | 2010-09-01 |
| 3254 | HURRICANE OPHELIA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-14 |
| 3222 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1490 | HURRICANE ISABEL | DR | Hurricane | 2003-09-18 |
Show 9 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1292 | HURRICANE FLOYD MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS | DR | Hurricane | 1999-09-16 |
| 3146 | HURRICANE FLOYD EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS | EM | Hurricane | 1999-09-15 |
| 1240 | HURRICANE BONNIE | DR | Hurricane | 1998-08-27 |
| 1211 | SEVERE STORMS TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-22 |
| 1134 | HURRICANE FRAN | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-06 |
| 1127 | HURRICANE BERTHA | DR | Hurricane | 1996-07-18 |
| 3110 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 699 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1984-03-30 |
| 234 | SEVERE ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1968-02-10 |
Storm Events in North Carolina
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lenoir County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 7,123 | 11 | 60 | $62.9M |
| Flash Flood | 1,881 | 105 | 6 | $2.3B |
| Hail | 1,623 | 0 | 0 | $122.5M |
| Winter Weather | 1,272 | 6 | 2 | $425.0K |
| Winter Storm | 743 | 7 | 0 | $10.7M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
835
Total Paid
$44.4M
Avg Per Claim
$53.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 84.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$35.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
Worth noting for Lenoir County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Winter Weather carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Lenoir County's closest FEMA peer: Spokane County, WA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lenoir County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Lenoir County shows 29 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Lenoir County: 14 of 29 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lenoir County: NRI composite 84.6 (Relatively Moderate).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Lenoir County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Lenoir County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 84.6 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 29. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Lenoir County's NFIP claims file (835 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Lenoir County?
The most common disaster type in Lenoir County is Hurricane, with 20 declarations. Other disaster types include Tropical Storm (2), Biological (2), Winter Storm (1).
How does Lenoir County's FEMA declaration record compare with the North Carolina average?
FEMA lists 29 declaration records for Lenoir County. That is 21% above the North Carolina county mean of 24.0. Its count is also 40% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Lenoir County received?
Lenoir County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 48% of all 29 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lenoir County filed?
Lenoir County has 835 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $44.4M in payments, with an average of $53.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lenoir County?
No. In Lenoir County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Hurricane leads Expected Annual Loss at about $14.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lenoir County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lenoir County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1968 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lenoir County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lenoir County, North Carolina has an overall risk score of 84.6 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Very High; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $35.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lenoir County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Lenoir County as of the latest release is Winter Weather (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively High) and Tornado (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 3.4 times per year, drawn from 65 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Lenoir County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · North Carolina profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events