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Pender County, NC flood insurance claims history

5,889 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Pender County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $118.1M on them. The worst year was 1996 with 2,067 claims. Pender County ranks #7 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 17% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 29% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Fran (1996), which paid $27.6M 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 94% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than 5 of its 7 neighbors.
  • ZIP 28445 has the most claims in the county (4,374, 74%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
5,889
1978–2026
Total paid
$118.1M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
71%
4,183 received a payment
Average payout
$28K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
1,381
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-07-26
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: 2,067 claims in 1996

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 Pender County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Fran1,681$27.6M$16K1996
Hurricane Florence1,315$65.7M$50K2018
Hurricane Floyd1,189$14.0M$12K1999
Hurricane Bertha366$1.5M$4K1996
Hurricane Bonnie356$680K$2K1998
Hurricane Matthew128$3.8M$29K2016
Flooding (FEMA general label)71$85K$1K1987
Hurricane Ophelia47$121K$3K2005
Tropical Storm Ernesto34$272K$8K2006
Hurricane Gloria29$10K$3451985
October severe storms28$514K$18K2015
Hurricane Charley11$10K$9462004

89% 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: 3,566 (61%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 1,245 (21%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 1,015 (17%)Zone not recorded: 63 (1%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)3,566$81.8M$23K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)1,245$12.6M$10K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)1,015$22.6M$22K
Zone not recorded63$1.1M$17K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)3,34757%
Stream, river or lake overflow1,08718%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt1,08418%
Other causes2855%
Not recorded661%
Alluvial fan overflow190%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Pender County

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

284454,374$43.7M74%372024
28425574$41.6M10%182025
28443397$8.3M7%172026
28435129$8.1M2%142024
28457128$8.2M2%112023
2842147$3.1M1%52018
2845446$1.3M1%82024
2841138$814K1%112024
Not reported33$286K1%111999
2846031$348K1%72002
2847824$1.1M0%42018
2846618$952K0%42018
284554$97K0%21999
284094$33K0%31999
278893$1K0%31999
285183$24K0%21999
276093$13K0%31999
289253$00%21998
275262$24K0%22010
275112$4K0%21999
284032$22K0%11996
284442$00%21999
283972$8K0%21999
284322$49K0%21999
276212$67K0%11996
285392$62K0%21996
275142$13K0%21999
283032$21K0%11996
283761$23K0%12018
285411$8180%11993
276281$8K0%11996
283281$00%11996
272601$7K0%11996
276191$25K0%11996
278931$00%11996
284561$4K0%11996
284471$8K0%11999
283661$20K0%11996

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

When does Pender County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (4,413 claims, 75%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January831%
February331%
March501%
April1322%
May20%
June50%
July3857%
August4648%
September4,41375%
October2114%
November341%
December771%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20261$0
20251$716
202415$187K
20233$1K
202213$176K
20214$18K
20207$73K
20194$7K
20181,330$66.2M
20173$45K
2016139$3.8M
201536$651K
20147$53K
20122$0
201110$0
201038$454K
20093$87
20081$0
20071$0
200646$376K
200572$258K
200420$14K
200313$16K
20021$844
20014$3K
20003$7K
19991,213$14.2M
1998371$713K
19962,067$29.2M
19959$99K
19941$1K
1993152$225K
19928$28K
19901$940
198917$16K
19883$155K
198783$127K
198682$438K
198539$192K
198410$193K
198327$12K
198116$160K
19801$200
19799$12K
19783$1K

Neighboring counties

Pender County borders 7 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Pender County (this page)5,889$118.1M17%
New Hanover County11,183$187.7M18%
Brunswick County9,879$99.3M9%
Onslow County4,432$70.7M13%
Columbus County712$25.0M26%
Duplin County542$52.1M62%
Bladen County195$9.2M40%
Sampson County148$6.1M48%

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

Common questions about flooding in Pender County

Has Pender County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-07-26, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (1,381 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 17% of Pender 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 37141, 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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