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Henderson County, NC flood insurance claims history

442 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Henderson County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $29.6M on them. The worst year was 2024 with 217 claims. Henderson County ranks #32 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 28% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 46% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Helene (2024), which paid $26.5M 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 69% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than 3 of its 5 neighbors.
  • ZIP 28792 has the most claims in the county (179, 40%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
442
1978–2026
Total paid
$29.6M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
84%
370 received a payment
Average payout
$80K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
288
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-07-17
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: 217 claims in 2024

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 Henderson County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Helene205$26.5M$129K2024
Tropical Storm Fred10$150K$15K2021
Tropical Storm Ivan9$50K$6K2004
Hurricane Michael6$140K$23K2018
Hurricane Zeta6$88K$15K2020
October severe storms1$15K$15K2015
Hurricane Cindy1$1K$1K2005
Hurricane Ophelia1$0$02005
Tropical Storm Ernesto1$9K$9K2006
Hurricane Florence1$26K$26K2018

55% of claims here fall under these 10 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 (70%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 121 (27%)Zone not recorded: 11 (2%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)310$21.9M$71K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)121$7.7M$64K
Zone not recorded11$27K$2K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Stream, river or lake overflow22050%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt16838%
Other causes297%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)215%
Not recorded41%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Henderson County

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

28792179$13.2M40%282025
28739115$6.2M26%252024
2873244$6.4M10%62024
2879136$1.4M8%112024
2873116$616K4%52025
2879011$79K2%32024
287298$149K2%42024
287107$685K2%32024
287427$444K2%32026
287597$257K2%32024
287093$52K1%31998
287732$6K0%12024
287202$00%22006
287262$36K0%12024
Not reported1$3K0%11983
287931$3400%11979
287351$175K0%12024

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

When does Henderson County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (244 claims, 55%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January317%
February82%
March194%
April112%
May184%
June133%
July164%
August4210%
September24455%
October225%
November72%
December112%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20261$0
20252$48K
2024217$26.9M
20231$5K
20223$0
202112$160K
20209$99K
201910$120K
201826$534K
20177$141K
20161$3K
20151$15K
201311$76K
20122$40K
20113$0
201011$114K
20099$267K
20072$1K
20065$94K
20059$39K
200430$327K
20031$0
199813$154K
19971$0
19965$54K
19957$101K
199410$121K
19925$75K
19916$49K
19903$25K
19891$6K
19871$6K
19835$6K
197910$36K
19782$6K

Neighboring counties

Henderson County borders 5 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Henderson County (this page)442$29.6M28%
Buncombe County1,192$104.1M25%
Haywood County733$36.2M13%
Transylvania County153$6.3M28%
Rutherford County117$8.1M24%
Polk County79$4.4M47%

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

Common questions about flooding in Henderson County

Has Henderson County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-07-17, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (288 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 28% of Henderson 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 37089, 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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