Natural hazards · Fairfield

Fairfield, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fairfield comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fairfield?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fairfield to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and coastal flooding.

Hurricanes70%Coastal flooding20%Inland flooding5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Fairfield faces

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

Hurricanes

70% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Coastal flooding

20% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

5% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 5% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Fairfield flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Hyde County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Fairfield

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FairfieldDeclared for Hyde County only

2018

Hurricane Florence

19 households applied for aid $13K aid approved

2016

Hurricane Matthew

19 households applied for aid $39K aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

94 households applied for aid $81K aid approved

2003

Hurricane Isabel

168 households applied for aid $286K aid approved

Hyde County has had 22 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. Fairfield 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 Fairfield’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fairfield. 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.