Natural hazards · Mount Holly

Mount Holly, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Holly comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1997. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mount Holly?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Holly to be higher than in 57% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding70%Tornadoes11%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Mount Holly faces

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

Inland flooding

70% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Mount Holly flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Mount Holly, from FEMA’s records.

11paid claims since 1997

$480Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19972026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 3 claims, $247K
Hurricane Matthew: 1 claim, $7K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Mount Holly 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Mount Holly

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mount HollyDeclared for Gaston County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

698 households applied for aid $991K aid approved $482K to the City of Mount Holly for repairs

2020

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$155K to the City of Mount Holly for repairs

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

1 household applied for aid

2002

Severe Ice Storm

$136K to the City of Mount Holly 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. Mount Holly covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mount Holly’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mount Holly. 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 Mount Holly total about $3.5M 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.