Natural hazards · Rocky Point

Rocky Point, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rocky Point comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Rocky Point?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rocky Point to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes66%Inland flooding17%Tornadoes6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Rocky Point faces

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

Hurricanes

66% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 37 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Rocky Point flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Rocky Point.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pender County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

16flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Rocky Point

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Rocky PointDeclared for Pender County only

2018

Hurricane Florence

1,620 households applied for aid $4.8M aid approved

2016

Hurricane Matthew

137 households applied for aid $95K aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

42 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Straight-Line Winds

33 households applied for aid $25K aid approved

2003

Hurricane Isabel

92 households applied for aid $55K aid approved

Pender County has had 22 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. Rocky Point 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 Rocky Point’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Rocky Point. 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.