Natural hazards · Cliffside

Cliffside, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cliffside comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cliffside?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cliffside to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and strong winds.

Inland flooding61%Strong wind16%Tornadoes9%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Cliffside faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Cliffside flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rutherford County.

Disasters that hit Cliffside

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CliffsideDeclared for Rutherford County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

7 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

Rutherford 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. Cliffside 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 Cliffside’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Cliffside. 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.