Natural hazards · Silver Lake

Silver Lake, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Silver Lake comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 2018.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Silver Lake?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Silver Lake to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes66%Inland flooding24%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Silver Lake 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 · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Silver Lake flood?

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

7paid claims since 2018

$145Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20182026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Florence: 6 claims, $143K
Tropical Cyclone Eight: 1 claim, $2K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: New Hanover County.

Disasters that hit Silver Lake

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for New Hanover County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Silver Lake itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Silver LakeDeclared for New Hanover County only

New Hanover County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Silver Lake

Silver Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Silver Lakemostly hurricanesVery high

Wilmingtonmostly hurricanesVery high

Myrtle Grovemostly hurricanesVery high

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. Silver Lake covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Silver Lake’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Silver Lake. 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 Silver Lake total about $4.5M 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.