ZipFactbook

Home › Flood claims › North Carolina › Guilford County

Guilford County, NC flood insurance claims history

680 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Guilford County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $9.4M on them. The worst year was 1979 with 75 claims. Guilford County ranks #24 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 39% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 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 77% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than all 6 of its neighbors.
  • ZIP 27407 has the most claims in the county (192, 28%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
680
1978–2025
Total paid
$9.4M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
75%
513 received a payment
Average payout
$18K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
185
claims 2016 – 2025
Most recent loss
2025-07-13
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: 75 claims in 1979

Claims by year of loss, 1978–2025. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Guilford County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Florence43$1.4M$33K2018
Hurricane Fran38$490K$13K1996
Hurricane Isabel23$265K$12K2003
Hurricane Michael15$210K$14K2018
Hurricane Debby12$476K$40K2024
Flooding (FEMA general label)10$42K$4K1990
2025 July TS Chantal7$272K$39K2025
Hurricane Floyd4$3K$6321999
Hurricane Bonnie4$12K$3K1998
Hurricane Hanna3$15K$5K2008
Flooding (FEMA general label)2$6K$3K1987
Hurricane Matthew2$23K$12K2016

24% 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: 401 (59%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 10 (1%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 264 (39%)Zone not recorded: 5 (1%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)401$6.7M$17K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)10$88K$9K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)264$2.6M$10K
Zone not recorded5$8K$2K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt35552%
Stream, river or lake overflow17526%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)9414%
Other causes426%
Not recorded101%
Alluvial fan overflow41%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Guilford County

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

27407192$4.1M28%242025
27408130$2.1M19%272024
2740546$474K7%162024
2726246$379K7%182025
2740645$454K7%212022
2740337$230K5%162024
2741035$454K5%142025
2726535$146K5%132025
2740121$286K3%102024
2726015$44K2%112021
2742014$106K2%62011
2724911$99K2%42020
274298$44K1%51999
274096$75K1%52010
274555$2K1%52022
272635$17K1%42018
272824$61K1%32025
274043$8K0%21982
273103$28K0%22018
272353$128K0%12018
271002$8K0%21999
274022$00%11982
Not reported2$101K0%11979
273772$26K0%22008
284802$5K0%21987
273132$00%11979
274001$6K0%11979
273011$3970%12000
272141$00%12018
274981$00%11993

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

When does Guilford County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (259 claims, 38%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January203%
February132%
March284%
April284%
May487%
June497%
July11918%
August649%
September25938%
October406%
November51%
December71%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20259$289K
202426$660K
20231$3K
20226$97K
20212$24K
202012$53K
201957$1.4M
201861$1.7M
20175$7K
20166$102K
20144$4K
20138$188K
20127$68K
20112$41K
20104$15K
200910$56K
200817$136K
20063$29K
20053$0
200422$257K
200361$763K
20021$1K
20014$22K
200062$1.4M
19996$3K
199815$58K
19974$63K
199645$542K
19951$0
19941$21K
199314$114K
19929$40K
19915$20K
199016$64K
19899$16K
19881$0
198710$19K
19863$19K
19852$34K
198416$64K
19837$13K
198225$94K
198111$39K
19802$61K
197975$730K
197810$64K

Neighboring counties

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

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Guilford County (this page)680$9.4M39%
Forsyth County440$4.7M43%
Alamance County168$5.1M14%
Rockingham County108$725K64%
Davidson County103$1.7M39%
Randolph County65$395K50%
Stokes County18$247K57%

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

Common questions about flooding in Guilford County

Has Guilford County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2025-07-13, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (185 claims from 2016 to 2025). 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 39% of Guilford 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 37081, 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?