Bennett’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bennett comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Bennett’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Bennett flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bennett. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Bennett isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Chatham County.How exposed is Bennett?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.
Calmer than 474 of the 772 North Carolina towns we cover.
Bennett is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Bennett faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Cold waves
1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Bennett
Disasters that paid out in Bennett itself (aid to households or repair grants to Bennett) and its biggest flood years.
- 2018Hurricane Florence2 households applied for aid$589 aid approved
Chatham County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.
Old photos of Bennett after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Bennett archive →Get ready for what Bennett actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in July–September
The month each of Chatham County’s 17 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Bennett’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Bennett.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bennett.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.