Natural hazards · Earl

Earl, NC natural hazards

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

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Earl to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding56%Tornadoes14%Earthquakes7%Strong wind5%Everything else19%

By hazard

What Earl faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 76 years in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Earl flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cleveland County.

Disasters that hit Earl

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into EarlDeclared for Cleveland County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

8 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

Cleveland 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. Earl 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 Earl’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Earl. 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.