Natural hazards · Pilot Mountain

Pilot Mountain, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pilot Mountain comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pilot Mountain?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pilot Mountain to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding50%Cold waves27%Tornadoes6%Strong wind5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Pilot Mountain faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Pilot Mountain flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Surry County.

Disasters that hit Pilot Mountain

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Pilot MountainDeclared for Surry County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

27 households applied for aid $90K aid approved

Surry 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. Pilot Mountain 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 Pilot Mountain’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Pilot Mountain. 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.