Natural hazards · Harrells

Harrells, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harrells comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Harrells?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harrells to be higher than in 85% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes66%Inland flooding17%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Harrells faces

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

Hurricanes

66% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

17% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Harrells flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sampson County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

12flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Harrells

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HarrellsDeclared for Sampson County only

2018

Hurricane Florence

207 households applied for aid $324K aid approved

2016

Hurricane Matthew

126 households applied for aid $270K aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

9 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

10 households applied for aid

2003

Hurricane Isabel

105 households applied for aid $90K aid approved

Sampson County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe 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. Harrells 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 Harrells’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Harrells. 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.