Natural hazards · Pinetops

Pinetops, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pinetops comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 32 claims here since 1989. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pinetops?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pinetops to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding42%Hurricanes18%Tornadoes12%Strong wind11%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Pinetops faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 63 years in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Pinetops flood?

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

32paid claims since 1989

$1.1Mpaid to owners

3homes flooded more than once

19892026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Floyd: 16 claims, $633K
Hurricane Matthew: 6 claims, $307K
Hurricane Eta: 4 claims, $92K

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. Pinetops isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Edgecombe County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

104flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

4homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Pinetops

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PinetopsDeclared for Edgecombe County only

2016

Hurricane Matthew

217 households applied for aid $1.1M aid approved $278K to the Town of Pinetops for repairs

2011

Hurricane Irene

67 households applied for aid $82K aid approved $148K to the Town of Pinetops for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

30 households applied for aid $20K aid approved $7K to the Town of Pinetops for repairs

1999

Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations

$153K to the Town of Pinetops for repairs

Edgecombe County has had 22 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. Pinetops 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 Pinetops’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Pinetops. 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.