Natural hazards · Chowan Beach

Chowan Beach, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chowan Beach comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chowan Beach?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Hurricanes57%Inland flooding18%Heat waves7%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Chowan Beach faces

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

Hurricanes

57% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Chowan Beach flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chowan County.

Disasters that hit Chowan Beach

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Chowan BeachDeclared for Chowan County only

Chowan County has had 19 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. Chowan Beach 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 Chowan Beach’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Chowan Beach. 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.