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Onslow County, NC flood insurance claims history

4,432 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Onslow County since 1979, and FEMA has paid out $70.7M on them. The worst year was 1996 with 1,445 claims. Onslow County ranks #8 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 13% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 24% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Fran (1996), 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 93% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than 2 of its 4 neighbors.
  • ZIP 28460 has the most claims in the county (2,224, 50%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
4,432
1979–2025
Total paid
$70.7M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
70%
3,097 received a payment
Average payout
$23K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
1,065
claims 2016 – 2025
Most recent loss
2025-06-20
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: 1,445 claims in 1996

Claims by year of loss, 1979–2025. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Onslow County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Fran1,048$17.8M$17K1996
Hurricane Florence966$30.6M$32K2018
Hurricane Floyd868$8.3M$10K1999
Hurricane Bertha374$1.5M$4K1996
Hurricane Bonnie232$863K$4K1998
Hurricane Ophelia163$3.4M$21K2005
Hurricane Irene45$153K$3K2011
Hurricane Matthew28$288K$10K2016
October severe storms23$237K$10K2015
Hurricane Sandy20$259K$13K2012
Hurricane Charley16$17K$1K2004
Hurricane Isabel16$2K$1102003

86% 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: 3,001 (68%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 818 (18%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 577 (13%)Zone not recorded: 36 (1%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)3,001$42.9M$14K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)818$14.7M$18K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)577$12.9M$22K
Zone not recorded36$236K$7K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)2,56758%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt79718%
Stream, river or lake overflow66315%
Other causes2897%
Not recorded842%
Alluvial fan overflow200%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Onslow County

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

284602,224$28.0M50%382025
284451,151$12.2M26%272022
28540381$14.1M9%242025
28546175$6.8M4%262024
28584174$3.1M4%162022
28539152$1.8M3%122020
2857462$3.0M1%82018
Not reported21$191K0%92005
2855517$850K0%42018
2858210$21K0%52018
2851810$184K0%72011
284545$18K0%42018
283015$36K0%21999
285445$93K0%32018
273074$27K0%31999
284553$00%22018
275493$63K0%21996
284593$168K0%21996
284432$14K0%22018
284032$73K0%11996
284292$41K0%11996
285302$9780%11996
277052$40K0%21999
285031$00%11996
284781$00%11999
278341$6980%11996
284251$00%11996
289251$00%11996
285421$00%11996
284421$3800%11999
286401$54K0%12005
285211$00%11996
283491$00%12005
284061$4K0%11996
283051$2K0%11996
286651$1K0%11996
285411$2K0%11999
284801$00%11999
270001$00%11996
283651$13K0%11996

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

When does Onslow County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (3,199 claims, 72%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January251%
February231%
March531%
April631%
May251%
June160%
July4039%
August3718%
September3,19972%
October1373%
November571%
December601%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20253$0
20247$45K
202313$341K
20226$57K
20212$16K
202014$99K
20194$2K
2018978$30.7M
20171$0
201637$325K
201537$327K
201437$715K
20133$4K
201231$335K
201158$749K
201066$1.2M
200910$168K
200811$930K
200713$385K
200622$505K
2005214$3.9M
200418$17K
200318$38K
200236$87K
200131$146K
20009$47K
1999896$8.3M
1998254$923K
19961,445$19.6M
19958$309K
19944$3K
199377$253K
19926$14K
19901$0
19898$20K
19883$29K
198719$37K
198618$32K
19854$0
19841$0
19835$0
19821$0
19801$0
19792$1K

Neighboring counties

Onslow County borders 4 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Onslow County (this page)4,432$70.7M13%
Carteret County8,997$128.9M25%
Pender County5,889$118.1M17%
Duplin County542$52.1M62%
Jones County205$17.0M36%

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

Common questions about flooding in Onslow County

Has Onslow County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2025-06-20, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (1,065 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 13% of Onslow 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 37133, 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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