Natural hazards · High Shoals

High Shoals, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in High Shoals comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is High Shoals?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in High Shoals to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Tornadoes11%Everything else21%

By hazard

What High Shoals faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 High Shoals flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Gaston County.

Disasters that hit High Shoals

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in High Shoals itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of High Shoals.

Brought FEMA money into High ShoalsDeclared for Gaston County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

23 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $77K to the City of High Shoals for repairs

2002

Severe Ice Storm

$2K to the City of High Shoals for repairs

Gaston 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. High Shoals 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 High Shoals’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of High Shoals. 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.