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Brunswick County, NC flood insurance claims history

9,879 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Brunswick County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $99.3M on them. The worst year was 1999 with 1,784 claims. Brunswick County ranks #3 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 9% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 17% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Floyd (1999), which paid $17.8M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years — flooding here is a regular event, not a once-in-a-generation one.
  • More flood claims than 98% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than 2 of its 3 neighbors.
  • ZIP 28465 has the most claims in the county (2,847, 29%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
9,879
1978–2026
Total paid
$99.3M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
61%
6,025 received a payment
Average payout
$16K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
2,490
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-03-09
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: 1,784 claims in 1999

Claims by year of loss, 1978–2026. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Brunswick County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Floyd1,709$17.8M$10K1999
Hurricane Hugo1,519$9.7M$6K1989
Hurricane Florence1,092$24.4M$22K2018
Hurricane Isaias846$9.2M$11K2020
Hurricane Fran485$1.9M$4K1996
Hurricane Bonnie417$150K$3591998
Hurricane Matthew412$3.3M$8K2016
Hurricane Charley336$162K$4822004
Flooding (FEMA general label)334$898K$3K1987
Tropical Cyclone Eight275$13.4M$49K2024
Hurricane Diana116$124K$1K1984
Hurricane Ophelia109$570K$5K2005

77% 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: 5,156 (52%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 3,784 (38%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 907 (9%)Zone not recorded: 32 (0%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)5,156$43.4M$8K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)3,784$32.8M$9K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)907$23.0M$25K
Zone not recorded32$181K$6K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)4,90050%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt2,31323%
Stream, river or lake overflow1,33013%
Other causes8579%
Not recorded2653%
Erosion (pre-1995 code)1682%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Brunswick County

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

284652,847$27.1M29%382025
284622,404$15.2M24%372024
284691,601$6.3M16%402024
284611,431$20.7M14%362025
28459503$2.9M5%222022
28468236$597K2%212024
28467211$3.8M2%162024
28451174$9.5M2%162024
28422123$6.5M1%122024
Not reported104$632K1%121999
2847083$1.7M1%162026
2842039$1.4M0%62024
2847922$1.7M0%42024
274107$86K0%61999
284247$282K0%31999
285006$100K0%51999
284586$50K0%51999
284024$40K0%31996
272624$4K0%41996
280004$3K0%31996
273134$41K0%41999
283594$76K0%41996
273233$24K0%22018
279003$105K0%31994
283203$35K0%21999
281123$5K0%31999
284053$2K0%21993
274003$13K0%21990
282072$6K0%11999
281112$20K0%22018
282842$1K0%21989
276002$3K0%21999
281522$3K0%21996
273602$44K0%22024
284212$46K0%21991
282102$82K0%21991
284452$37K0%11996
274082$4K0%21999
273541$5430%11989
284571$00%12004
271011$00%11989
284031$2K0%11989
270191$00%11999
284631$22K0%11999
279861$3K0%11999
271041$00%11999
284011$8K0%11999
275141$3K0%11989
284491$54K0%11996
286771$13K0%11996
286571$6K0%11999
283831$00%11998
284191$00%11998
285121$00%11996
278261$3K0%11989

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

When does Brunswick County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (5,707 claims, 58%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January4424%
February1241%
March6697%
April651%
May450%
June440%
July1131%
August1,82018%
September5,70758%
October7077%
November641%
December791%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20261$0
20255$72K
2024300$13.6M
202310$281K
2022112$969K
202111$41K
2020880$9.3M
201916$116K
20181,149$24.8M
20176$11K
2016424$3.4M
2015111$1.8M
201421$24K
20135$25K
20124$31K
201126$16K
201058$474K
20097$49K
200825$140K
20071$0
20068$52K
2005208$1.7M
2004396$370K
200318$12K
20021$0
200118$9K
20006$31K
19991,784$18.1M
1998487$410K
19977$100K
1996612$2.3M
1995148$3.2M
199478$1.8M
1993584$2.2M
199223$370K
199140$584K
199059$622K
19891,573$10.6M
198812$370K
1987346$973K
198646$122K
198540$34K
1984123$147K
198336$14K
19823$0
19813$17K
19802$0
197944$54K
19782$15K

Neighboring counties

Brunswick County borders 3 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Brunswick County (this page)9,879$99.3M9%
New Hanover County11,183$187.7M18%
Pender County5,889$118.1M17%
Columbus County712$25.0M26%

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

Common questions about flooding in Brunswick County

Has Brunswick County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-03-09, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (2,490 claims from 2017 to 2026). 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 9% of Brunswick 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.

Look up another place

About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 37019, 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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