Natural hazards · Cherokee

Cherokee, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cherokee comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cherokee?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cherokee to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding66%Cold waves18%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Cherokee faces

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

Inland flooding

66% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Cherokee flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cherokee.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Swain County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Cherokee

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CherokeeDeclared for Swain County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

271 households applied for aid $397K aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

6 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

Swain County has had 14 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. Cherokee 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 Cherokee’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Cherokee. 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.