Natural hazards · Hightsville

Hightsville, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hightsville comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hightsville?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hightsville to be higher than in 94% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes70%Inland flooding19%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Hightsville 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 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce 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 Hightsville flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: New Hanover County.

Disasters that hit Hightsville

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for New Hanover County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Hightsville itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into HightsvilleDeclared for New Hanover County only

New Hanover County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Hightsville

Hightsville and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hightsvillemostly hurricanesVery high

Wilmingtonmostly hurricanesVery high

Wrightsboromostly hurricanesVery high

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. Hightsville 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 Hightsville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Hightsville. 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.