Hoke County, North Carolina: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Hoke County, North Carolina has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 50.1 out of 100, higher than about 50% of US counties, with hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $13 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Hoke County since 1996, 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 11 tornadoes touching Hoke County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for North Carolina All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 52,053 Buildings worth $7.1 billion Area 396 sq mi Risk rank in North Carolina 75 of 100 FIPS 37093
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | 84.0 | $2.6 million | about once every 4.8 years | 61 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 80.2 | $333,019 | about once every 375 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 75.8 | $2.6 million | about once every 5.2 years | 12 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 73.1 | $844,114 | about 8.3 a year | 135 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 68.3 | $98,266 | about 4.3 a year | 82 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 66.5 | $146,483 | about 1.2 a year | 78 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 64.9 | $483,687 | about once every 546 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 55.9 | $231,821 | about 55 a year | 69,471 strikes |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 54.3 | $499,554 | about 2.3 a year | 88 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 45.1 | $633,128 | about once every 2.1 years | 9 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 44.0 | $76,047 | about 15 a year | 462 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 43.3 | $4.4 million | about once every 1.2 years | 23 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 36.9 | $128,377 | about 3.7 a year | 141 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 19.4 | $88 | about once every 12 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | 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 18
Most common: Hurricane 13, Tropical Storm 2, Severe Storm 2, Winter Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3 | Hurricane ×3 |
| 2000s | 3 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 7 | Hurricane ×6, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 5 | Tropical Storm ×2, Hurricane ×2, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Hoke 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 Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Frances (2004), Hurricane Floyd (1999), Hurricane Fran (1996).
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 11
| Tornadoes touching the county | 11 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | May (4) |
| Deadliest | 16 Apr 2011, EF3, 52.9 mi path, 2 killed, 176 injured |
| Longest path | 16 Apr 2011, EF3, 52.9 mi path, 2 killed, 176 injured |
| Most recent | 21 May 2020, EF1, 0.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 3 / 182 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
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 Hoke County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoke County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 50.1 | Hurricane |
| Scotland County | 30 km | Relatively Low | 63.6 | Hurricane |
| Cumberland County | 37 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.5 | Winter weather |
| Moore County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 75.6 | Hurricane |
| Robeson County | 44 km | Relatively Moderate | 91.1 | Strong wind |
| Richmond County | 47 km | Relatively Low | 60.8 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in North Carolina, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 64.7 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 16.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.30 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $13 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 Hoke County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for North Carolina · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- 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 Hoke County
What natural disasters is Hoke County, North Carolina most at risk from?
Hoke County, North Carolina has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 50.1 out of 100, higher than about 50% of US counties, with hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $13 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Hoke County had?
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Hoke County since 1996, 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 Hoke County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 11 tornadoes touching Hoke County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 16 Apr 2011, EF3, 52.9 mi path, 2 killed, 176 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.