Natural hazards · Mountain Home

Mountain Home, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mountain Home comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 2017. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mountain Home?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mountain Home to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves25%Tornadoes8%Everything else19%

By hazard

What Mountain Home faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHeat wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Mountain Home flood?

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

4paid claims since 2017

$303Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20172026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 3 claims, $299K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Henderson County.

Disasters that hit Mountain Home

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Mountain Home itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Mountain Home.

Brought FEMA money into Mountain HomeDeclared for Henderson County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

7 households applied for aid $12K aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

13 households applied for aid $19K aid approved

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

3 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Henderson County has had 15 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. Mountain Home covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mountain Home’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Mountain Home. 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 Mountain Home total about $1.7M 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.