Natural hazards · Fairplains

Fairplains, NC natural hazards

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

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fairplains to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding58%Tornadoes11%Cold waves9%Earthquakes7%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Fairplains faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Fairplains flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wilkes County.

Disasters that hit Fairplains

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FairplainsDeclared for Wilkes County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

2 households applied for aid

Wilkes County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Fairplains

Fairplains and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

North Wilkesboromostly inland floodingHigh

Mulberrymostly inland floodingModerate

Fairplainsmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Fairplains covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fairplains’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fairplains. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Fairplains total about $871K a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.