ZipFactbook

Home › Flood claims › North Carolina › Cumberland County

Cumberland County, NC flood insurance claims history

827 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Cumberland County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $24.8M on them. The worst year was 2016 with 329 claims. Cumberland County ranks #19 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 61% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 37% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Matthew (2016), which paid $15.9M 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 82% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than 5 of its 6 neighbors.
  • ZIP 28301 has the most claims in the county (168, 20%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
827
1978–2026
Total paid
$24.8M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
74%
612 received a payment
Average payout
$41K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
280
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-08-13
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 →

Loading claim records…

Flood claims by year

Peak: 329 claims in 2016

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 Cumberland County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Matthew302$15.9M$53K2016
Hurricane Florence192$4.9M$25K2018
Mid-spring storms26$644K$25K2014
Hurricane Hugo12$22K$2K1989
Hurricane Eta11$183K$17K2020
Hurricane Fran10$73K$7K1996
Hurricane Debby8$223K$28K2024
Hurricane Diana7$4K$5281984
Hurricane Floyd5$14K$3K1999
Flooding (FEMA general label)4$25K$6K1987
Hurricane Hanna3$60K$20K2008
Hurricane Ian3$3K$8532022

70% 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: 310 (37%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 8 (1%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 498 (60%)Zone not recorded: 11 (1%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)310$14.1M$46K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)8$19K$2K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)498$10.5M$21K
Zone not recorded11$171K$16K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt42551%
Stream, river or lake overflow24329%
Other causes8911%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)607%
Not recorded91%
Alluvial fan overflow10%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Cumberland County

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

28301168$7.4M20%302026
28304108$3.8M13%202024
28312104$3.3M13%92024
2830395$920K11%182024
2831489$1.3M11%182026
2834859$3.3M7%182025
2830655$2.1M7%112026
2831153$585K6%142026
2830546$412K6%172022
2839014$549K2%52018
283919$90K1%42024
283957$76K1%32018
283566$732K1%22018
283715$139K1%22016
283184$56K0%22018
283022$1K0%21984
Not reported1$00%11984
283421$6900%12018
283441$46K0%12018

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

When does Cumberland County flood?

October accounts for the most flood losses (316 claims, 38%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January132%
February162%
March91%
April344%
May263%
June304%
July294%
August354%
September29436%
October31638%
November182%
December71%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20264$9K
20252$0
202412$294K
20236$116K
20228$5K
202111$35K
202022$310K
20195$4K
2018204$4.9M
20176$33K
2016329$17.1M
20156$2K
201435$667K
201310$34K
20126$30K
20112$0
20103$33K
20094$13K
200811$128K
20064$22K
20051$15K
200328$181K
20022$2K
20011$6K
20001$0
19998$27K
19984$20K
199613$73K
19958$53K
19941$0
19932$4K
19923$22K
19912$3K
19901$0
198933$649K
19877$25K
19862$100
19852$1K
19849$4K
19832$3K
19802$2K
19792$0
19783$2K

Neighboring counties

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

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Cumberland County (this page)827$24.8M61%
Robeson County1,430$54.6M22%
Bladen County195$9.2M40%
Moore County154$2.9M42%
Sampson County148$6.1M48%
Harnett County116$2.5M51%
Hoke County39$616K58%

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

Common questions about flooding in Cumberland County

Has Cumberland County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-08-13, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (280 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 61% of Cumberland 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 37051, 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.

Was this page helpful?