Natural hazards · Mount Olive

Mount Olive, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Olive comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 20 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mount Olive?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Olive to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes40%Inland flooding36%Tornadoes9%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Mount Olive faces

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

Hurricanes

40% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce 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 Mount Olive flood?

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

20paid claims since 1979

$493Kpaid to owners

5homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Florence: 4 claims, $238K
Hurricane Matthew: 3 claims, $165K
Hurricane Floyd: 3 claims, $16K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wayne County.

Disasters that hit Mount Olive

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mount OliveDeclared for Wayne County only

2018

Hurricane Florence

515 households applied for aid $301K aid approved $1.0M to the Town of Mount Olive for repairs

2016

Hurricane Matthew

554 households applied for aid $397K aid approved $451K to the Town of Mount Olive for repairs

2011

Hurricane Irene

86 households applied for aid $25K aid approved $45K to the Town of Mount Olive for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

44 households applied for aid $15K aid approved $11K to the Town of Mount Olive for repairs

1999

Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations

$89K to the Town of Mount Olive for repairs

Wayne County has had 21 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. Mount Olive 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 Mount Olive’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Mount Olive. 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.