Natural hazards · Royal Pines

Royal Pines, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Royal Pines comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1980. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Royal Pines?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Royal Pines to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding47%Cold waves27%Tornadoes8%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Royal Pines faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 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 Royal Pines flood?

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

5paid claims since 1980

$54Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 2 claims, $30K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Buncombe County.

Disasters that hit Royal Pines

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Royal PinesDeclared for Buncombe County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

2 households applied for aid

Buncombe County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Royal Pines

Royal Pines and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ashevillemostly inland floodingLow

Royal Pinesmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Royal Pines covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Royal Pines’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Royal Pines. 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 Royal Pines total about $1.6M 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.