Bladen County, North Carolina: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Bladen County, North Carolina has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 84.6 out of 100, higher than about 84% of US counties, with strong winds, hurricanes and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $39 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included Bladen County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3637-NC (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 29 tornadoes touching Bladen County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for North Carolina All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 29,597 Buildings worth $9.4 billion Area 897 sq mi Risk rank in North Carolina 27 of 100 FIPS 37017
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 96.7 | $2.7 million | about 2.4 a year | 90 |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 96.4 | $22 million | about once every 3.4 years | 105 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 84.6 | $486,727 | about once every 524 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 78.1 | $2.6 million | about once every 1.7 years | 24 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 77.3 | $131,872 | about 2.4 a year | 45 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 71.5 | $173,041 | about once every 1.2 years | 58 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 70.1 | $575,219 | about once every 541 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 65.7 | $8.0 million | about once every 1.4 years | 20 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 65.6 | $543,117 | about 8.2 a year | 131 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 61.2 | $253,212 | about 55 a year | 100,098 strikes |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 54.9 | $232,966 | about 3.5 a year | 134 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 51.7 | $117,108 | about 9.6 a year | 336 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 49.9 | $688,477 | about once every 2.1 years | 9 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 28.5 | $200 | about once every 6.9 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Very Low | 18.6 | $106 | about once every 83 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 25
Most common: Hurricane 19, Tropical Storm 2, Winter Storm 1, Fire 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Drought |
| 1980s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1990s | 5 | Hurricane ×5 |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane ×4 |
| 2010s | 9 | Hurricane ×7, Fire, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 5 | Tropical Storm ×2, Hurricane ×2, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Bladen County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3637-NC): 100 North Carolina counties designated.
- Hurricane Helene (2024, EM-3617-NC): 100 North Carolina counties designated.
- Hurricane Ian (2022, EM-3586-NC): 100 North Carolina counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Helene (2024), Tropical Storm Debby (2024), Hurricane Ian (2022), Hurricane Isaias (2020), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Hurricane Florence (2018), Hurricane Matthew (2016), Hurricane Irene (2011), Hurricane Ophelia (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Frances (2004), Hurricane Isabel (2003), Hurricane Floyd (1999), Hurricane Bonnie (1998), Hurricane Fran (1996), Hurricane Bertha (1996), Hurricane Diana (1984).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. North Carolina also had 9 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 29
| Tornadoes touching the county | 29 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | March (5) |
| Deadliest | 28 Mar 1984, F3, 40 mi path, 12 killed, 101 injured |
| Longest path | 4 Oct 1964, F2, 54.6 mi path |
| Most recent | 27 Sep 2024, EF0, 5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 17 / 123 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 14 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Bladen County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bladen County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 84.6 | Strong wind |
| Columbus County | 40 km | Relatively Moderate | 86.9 | Strong wind |
| Sampson County | 45 km | Relatively Moderate | 90.2 | Strong wind |
| Robeson County | 50 km | Relatively Moderate | 91.1 | Strong wind |
| Cumberland County | 54 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.5 | Winter weather |
| Pender County | 61 km | Relatively Moderate | 86.9 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in North Carolina, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 78.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 30.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.44 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $39 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Bladen County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for North Carolina · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Bladen County
What natural disasters is Bladen County, North Carolina most at risk from?
Bladen County, North Carolina has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 84.6 out of 100, higher than about 84% of US counties, with strong winds, hurricanes and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $39 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Bladen County had?
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included Bladen County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3637-NC (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). Another 9 North Carolina declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Bladen County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 29 tornadoes touching Bladen County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 28 Mar 1984, F3, 40 mi path, 12 killed, 101 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.