McDowell County, North Carolina: Natural Disaster Risk and History
McDowell County, North Carolina has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 59.2 out of 100, higher than about 59% of US counties, with landslides, ice storms and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $17 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 19 federal disaster declarations that included McDowell County since 1973, 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 6 tornadoes touching McDowell County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for North Carolina All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 44,525 Buildings worth $8.7 billion Area 450 sq mi Risk rank in North Carolina 69 of 100 FIPS 37111
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 96.1 | $143,154 | about 1.3 a year | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 87.0 | $573,989 | about 1.6 a year | 107 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 72.5 | $12 million | about 1.2 a year | 33 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 68.4 | $373,351 | about 55 a year | 88,005 strikes |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 64.1 | $299,914 | about 31 a year | 1,022 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 61.8 | $408,008 | about once every 513 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 60.9 | $183,096 | about once every 25 years | 10 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 59.4 | $63,769 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 59.0 | $1.1 million | about 1.8 a year | 34 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 56.1 | $1.2 million | about once every 6.1 years | 7 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 55.4 | $516,429 | about 2.5 a year | 94 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 51.8 | $226,909 | about 4.9 a year | 186 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 22.8 | $16,573 | about 9.9 a year | 187 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 21.8 | $57,384 | about once every 9.1 years | 2.1 |
| 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 19
Most common: Hurricane 9, Snowstorm 3, Tropical Storm 2, Flood 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 3 | Snowstorm ×3 |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane ×3, Severe Ice Storm |
| 2010s | 5 | Hurricane ×4, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 5 | Tropical Storm ×2, Hurricane ×2, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included McDowell 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: Tropical Storm Helene (2024), Hurricane Helene (2024), Hurricane Ian (2022), Hurricane Isaias (2020), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Tropical Storm Michael (2019), Hurricane Florence (2018), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Tropical Storm Frances (2004).
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 6
| Tornadoes touching the county | 6 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (3) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 24 May 2000, F0, 4 mi path |
| Most recent | 10 Apr 2021, EF0, 0.6 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 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 McDowell County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDowell County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 59.2 | Landslide |
| Burke County | 32 km | Relatively Low | 70.2 | Ice storm |
| Rutherford County | 33 km | Relatively Low | 72.7 | Strong wind |
| Yancey County | 34 km | Very Low | 42.2 | Landslide |
| Mitchell County | 38 km | Very Low | 24.0 | Landslide |
| Buncombe County | 44 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.3 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in North Carolina, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 66.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 29.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.30 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $17 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 McDowell County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for North Carolina · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- 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 McDowell County
What natural disasters is McDowell County, North Carolina most at risk from?
McDowell County, North Carolina has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 59.2 out of 100, higher than about 59% of US counties, with landslides, ice storms and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $17 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has McDowell County had?
OpenFEMA lists 19 federal disaster declarations that included McDowell County since 1973, 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 McDowell County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching McDowell County from 1950 to 2025.
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.