Natural hazards · Dobson

Dobson, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dobson comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Dobson?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding48%Cold waves27%Tornadoes6%Strong wind5%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Dobson faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Dobson flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Surry County.

Disasters that hit Dobson

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DobsonDeclared for Surry County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

30 households applied for aid $126K aid approved $364K to the Town of Dobson for repairs

Surry County has had 17 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. Dobson 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 Dobson’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Dobson. 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.