Pine Knoll Shores’s biggest natural hazard is hurricanes
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pine Knoll Shores comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 144 claims here since 1985. 10 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Pine Knoll Shores’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Pine Knoll Shores flood? Yes: 144 flood claims since 1985
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Pine Knoll Shores, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Florence43 claims · $901K
- Hurricane Floyd18 claims · $511K
- Hurricane Fran12 claims · $152K
Pine Knoll Shores is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 6) for its flood-proofing work.
Insurance rates: Carteret County.10 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Pine Knoll Shores
Disasters that paid out in Pine Knoll Shores itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores) and its biggest flood years.
- 2020Hurricane Isaias$49K to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs
- 2019Hurricane Dorian$234K to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs
- 2018Hurricane Florence61 households applied for aid$21K aid approved$9.7M to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs43 flood claims paid that year
- 2016Hurricane Matthew$27K to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs
- 2011Hurricane Irene2 households applied for aid$2.6M to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs6 flood claims paid that year
- 2010Hurricane Earl$8K to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs9 flood claims paid that year
Show all 11
- 2005Hurricane Ophelia$2.7M to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs7 flood claims paid that year
- 2003Hurricane Isabel$45K to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs
- 1999Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations$259K to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs22 flood claims paid that year
- 1999Hurricane Dennis$46K to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for repairs
- 199425 flood claims paidOne of the three biggest flood years on record
Carteret County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.
Old photos of Pine Knoll Shores after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Pine Knoll Shores archive →How exposed is Pine Knoll Shores?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 99% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.
Rated higher than 757 of the 772 North Carolina towns we cover.
Pine Knoll Shores covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
What Pine Knoll Shores faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
Inland flooding
Get ready for what Pine Knoll Shores actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
- Pine Knoll Shores residents get 20% off flood insurance.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Pine Knoll Shores and its neighbors
How storm and flood risk compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Beach | Very high | hurricanes | 720 |
| Pine Knoll Shores | Very high | hurricanes | 144 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in July–September
The month each of Carteret County’s 20 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Pine Knoll Shores’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels. Across Pine Knoll Shores, expected losses total about $8.7M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Pine Knoll Shores.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.