Natural hazards · Highlands

Highlands, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Highlands comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Highlands?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Highlands to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding54%Cold waves21%Tornadoes8%Landslides5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Highlands faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 71 years in the area

Landslides

5% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHeat wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Highlands flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Macon County.

Disasters that hit Highlands

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HighlandsDeclared for Macon County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

169 households applied for aid $160K aid approved $984K to the Town of Highlands for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

55 households applied for aid $41K aid approved $118K to the Town of Highlands for repairs

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

$16K to the Town of Highlands for repairs

Macon County has had 14 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. Highlands 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 Highlands’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Highlands. 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.