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Bertie County, NC flood insurance claims history

423 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Bertie County since 1980, and FEMA has paid out $13.1M on them. The worst year was 2016 with 172 claims. Bertie County ranks #34 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 32% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 23% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Matthew (2016), which paid $2.4M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 4 of the last 10 years.
  • More flood claims than 67% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than all 6 of its neighbors.
  • ZIP 27983 has the most claims in the county (356, 84%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
423
1980–2024
Total paid
$13.1M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
91%
385 received a payment
Average payout
$34K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
175
claims 2015 – 2024
Most recent loss
2024-09-27
data as of 2026-09-08

Look up your ZIP code

Pick your ZIP code to see how many insured buildings there filed flood claims, in which years, and how much was paid — and which named floods those claims came from, which a county-wide list cannot tell you. Narrow by year or flood zone too. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you pick is sent anywhere. Have a street address? Run the printable flood check for it →

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Flood claims by year

Peak: 172 claims in 2016

Claims by year of loss, 1980–2024. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Bertie County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Matthew96$2.4M$25K2016
Hurricane Floyd53$1.4M$26K1999
Hurricane Isabel28$711K$25K2003
Hurricane Irene20$270K$14K2011
Hurricane Bonnie3$10K$3K1998
The "Halloween" Storm2$12K$6K1991
Hurricane Bertha1$651$6511996
Hurricane Florence1$40K$40K2018
Hurricane Dennis1$15K$15K1999
Hurricane Ian1$2K$2K2022
Hurricane Fran1$10K$10K1996
Hurricane Hugo1$0$01989

49% of claims here fall under these 12 entries. “FEMA general label” groups many separate floods under one name; the rest of the claims have no event name.

Claims by flood zone

Not sure what the zone letters mean? Flood zones explained →

High-risk A zones: 281 (66%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 3 (1%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 135 (32%)Zone not recorded: 4 (1%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)281$9.8M$35K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)3$0$0
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)135$3.2M$24K
Zone not recorded4$39K$10K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Stream, river or lake overflow23054%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt14835%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)235%
Other causes164%
Not recorded41%
Alluvial fan overflow10%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Bertie County

8 ZIP codes in Bertie County have at least one NFIP claim. ZIP codes can cross county lines; this table counts only claims FEMA assigned to Bertie County.

27983356$11.9M84%132022
2795729$707K7%52011
2792415$256K4%62016
2780515$93K4%52024
278495$69K1%52018
279101$00%12003
278721$00%11993
279881$00%11980

Click a column to sort. Click a ZIP to load it in the lookup above.

When does Bertie County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (200 claims, 47%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January31%
February00%
March20%
April00%
May00%
June61%
July31%
August266%
September20047%
October18343%
November00%
December00%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20241$15K
20221$2K
20181$40K
2016172$5.5M
20132$2K
201120$270K
2010122$5.0M
20061$8K
20051$2K
200330$711K
20014$17K
199954$1.4M
19984$10K
19962$11K
19951$0
19931$0
19912$12K
19902$2K
19891$0
19801$0

Neighboring counties

Bertie County borders 6 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Bertie County (this page)423$13.1M32%
Chowan County282$6.2M19%
Hertford County159$3.2M68%
Washington County157$2.8M20%
Halifax County54$846K50%
Martin County42$621K56%
Northampton County34$283K47%

All 100 North Carolina counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Bertie County

Has Bertie County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2024-09-27, and claims were filed in 4 of the last 10 years (175 claims from 2015 to 2024). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-08, so the newest events may not appear yet.
Do I need flood insurance in a low-risk zone here?
Lenders generally require it only in high-risk A and V zones. But 32% of Bertie County’s claims came from moderate- and low-risk zones. Whether to buy coverage is your call — see flood zones explained and check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
Can I see whether a specific house has flooded?
Not here. FEMA removes addresses before publishing, so these figures describe areas, never a property. Our guide how to check if a house has flooded lists the questions and records that can tell you about a specific home.
Why might the real number of floods be higher?
Only buildings with National Flood Insurance can file these claims, and most homes are not insured for flood. More on what the counts mean in understanding NFIP claims data.

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About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 37015, data as of 2026-09-08). They cover only properties that carried National Flood Insurance — most homes do not, and private flood policies are not included — so real flood damage is larger than these counts show. Dollar amounts are as paid, in nominal dollars. Flood zone is the zone used to rate the policy at the time, which may differ from today’s map. FEMA states this dataset is not an official federal report. Use it for background, not for a purchase, insurance or legal decision; for a specific property ask the seller for its flood disclosure or the owner’s NFIP loss history.

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