Natural hazards · Balfour

Balfour, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Balfour comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 1989.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Balfour?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Balfour to be higher than in 20% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding40%Cold waves29%Tornadoes9%Earthquakes7%Strong wind5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Balfour faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHeat wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Balfour flood?

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

12paid claims since 1989

$584Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19892026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 4 claims, $479K
Hurricane Michael: 1 claim, $63K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Henderson County.

Disasters that hit Balfour

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Henderson County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Balfour itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into BalfourDeclared for Henderson County only

Henderson County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Balfour

Balfour and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Mountain Homemostly inland floodingLow

Balfourmostly inland floodingLow

Hendersonvillemostly inland floodingVery low

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. Balfour covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Balfour total about $918K a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.