Natural hazards · Andrews

Andrews, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Andrews comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1980. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Andrews?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Andrews to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding68%Tornadoes12%Cold waves7%Earthquakes6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Andrews faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

68% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Andrews flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Andrews, from FEMA’s records.

5paid claims since 1980

$192Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19802026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Andrews isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Cherokee County.

Disasters that hit Andrews

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Andrews itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Andrews.

Brought FEMA money into AndrewsDeclared for Cherokee County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

29 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

Cherokee County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Andrews is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Andrews’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Andrews. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.