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Wayne County, NC flood insurance claims history

1,193 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Wayne County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $47.0M on them. The worst year was 2016 with 456 claims. Wayne County ranks #16 of 100 in North Carolina by claim count.

At a glance

  • 25% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 38% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Matthew (2016), which paid $29.9M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 8 of the last 10 years — flooding here is a regular event, not a once-in-a-generation one.
  • More flood claims than 85% of the 100 North Carolina counties with any claims on file — and more than all 6 of its neighbors.
  • ZIP 27530 has the most claims in the county (840, 70%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
1,193
1978–2026
Total paid
$47.0M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
84%
1,002 received a payment
Average payout
$47K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
190
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-05-25
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: 456 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 Wayne County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Matthew452$29.9M$66K2016
Hurricane Floyd370$10.4M$28K1999
Hurricane Florence152$4.5M$30K2018
Hurricane Fran68$825K$12K1996
Hurricane Eta8$281K$35K2020
Hurricane Dennis5$45K$9K1999
Tropical Storm Ernesto4$35K$9K2006
Hurricane Michael3$23K$8K2018
Hurricane Helene2$26K$13K2024
Hurricane Bonnie2$6K$3K1998
December Nor'easter2$145K$72K2023
Hurricane Bertha1$0$01996

90% 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: 864 (72%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 2 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 290 (24%)Zone not recorded: 37 (3%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)864$36.4M$42K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)2$32K$16K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)290$10.3M$35K
Zone not recorded37$273K$7K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Stream, river or lake overflow54846%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt53044%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)555%
Other causes494%
Not recorded111%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Wayne County

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

27530840$32.4M70%282026
27534179$8.3M15%182026
2857856$3.0M5%42018
2833339$1.2M3%82024
2836527$583K2%92018
2855119$680K2%42018
2756915$403K1%32018
278638$86K1%32021
278304$210K0%22018
275334$87K0%11999
275312$27K0%21999

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

When does Wayne County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (624 claims, 52%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January30%
February30%
March61%
April171%
May40%
June40%
July121%
August373%
September62452%
October46639%
November141%
December30%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20262$3K
20244$30K
20234$207K
20222$11K
20213$10K
20209$300K
2018161$4.6M
20175$19K
2016456$30.0M
20111$0
20081$0
200610$65K
20057$52K
20041$0
20032$2K
20016$32K
20003$134
1999394$10.6M
199816$67K
19971$0
199671$833K
19951$0
199213$161K
19911$110
19891$0
19872$3K
19829$48K
19811$2K
19801$515
19794$30K
19781$0

Neighboring counties

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

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Wayne County (this page)1,193$47.0M25%
Lenoir County835$44.4M17%
Duplin County542$52.1M62%
Wilson County498$12.6M28%
Johnston County313$11.4M31%
Sampson County148$6.1M48%
Greene County82$2.5M53%

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

Common questions about flooding in Wayne County

Has Wayne County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-05-25, and claims were filed in 8 of the last 10 years (190 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 25% of Wayne 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 37191, 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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