New Hanover County, North Carolina: Natural Disaster Risk and History
New Hanover County, North Carolina has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 96.1 out of 100, higher than about 96% of US counties, with hurricanes, lightning and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $257 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 30 federal disaster declarations that included New Hanover County since 1984, 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 33 tornadoes touching New Hanover County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for North Carolina All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 225,344 Buildings worth $58 billion Area 332 sq mi Risk rank in North Carolina 2 of 100 FIPS 37129
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Very High | 99.1 | $181 million | about once every 2.7 years | 123 |
| Lightning | Very High | 97.7 | $3.4 million | about 57 a year | 220,497 strikes |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 96.1 | $999,019 | about 1.5 a year | 19 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 90.7 | $1.2 million | about once every 1.4 years | 32 |
| Tornado | Relatively High | 90.4 | $8.9 million | about once every 6.4 years | 28 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 89.9 | $46 million | about 2.5 a year | 69 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively High | 89.2 | $6.7 million | about 3.7 a year | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 85.6 | $2.5 million | about 7.7 a year | 82 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 83.0 | $675,259 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 81.0 | $2.2 million | about once every 787 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 67.2 | $2.3 million | about once every 2.1 years | 6 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 54.6 | $752,593 | about 1.5 a year | 37 |
| Hail | Very Low | 21.1 | $91,056 | about 2.2 a year | 86 |
| Drought | Very Low | 19.2 | $4,080 | about 5.7 a year | 154 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 19.0 | $126 | about once every 36 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| 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 30
Most common: Hurricane 23, Tropical Storm 3, Severe Storm 2, Winter Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1990s | 7 | Hurricane ×6, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 5 | Hurricane ×4, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 10 | Hurricane ×9, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 7 | Tropical Storm ×3, Hurricane ×3, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included New Hanover 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 Earl (2010), Tropical Storm Hanna (2008), Hurricane Ophelia (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Isabel (2003), Hurricane Floyd (1999), Hurricane Dennis (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 33
| Tornadoes touching the county | 33 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×15 |
| Peak month | September (14) |
| Deadliest | 8 Jan 1998, F1, 0.2 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Longest path | 15 Sep 2018, EF1, 4.5 mi path |
| Most recent | 6 Jul 2025, EF0, 1.7 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 8 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 18 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 3 |
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 New Hanover County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hanover County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 96.1 | Hurricane |
| Pender County | 31 km | Relatively Moderate | 86.9 | Hurricane |
| Brunswick County | 38 km | Relatively High | 95.8 | Hurricane |
| Onslow County | 69 km | Relatively High | 95.0 | Hurricane |
| Columbus County | 71 km | Relatively Moderate | 86.9 | Strong wind |
| Bladen County | 75 km | Relatively Moderate | 84.6 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in North Carolina, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 19.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 90.2 |
| Community risk factor | 0.87 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $257 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 New Hanover 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
- Lightning: Weather alerts for North Carolina
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- 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 New Hanover County
What natural disasters is New Hanover County, North Carolina most at risk from?
New Hanover County, North Carolina has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 96.1 out of 100, higher than about 96% of US counties, with hurricanes, lightning and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $257 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has New Hanover County had?
OpenFEMA lists 30 federal disaster declarations that included New Hanover County since 1984, 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 New Hanover County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 33 tornadoes touching New Hanover County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 8 Jan 1998, F1, 0.2 mi path, 0 killed, 3 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.