Natural hazards · Sims

Sims, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sims comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Sims?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sims to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding33%Hurricanes32%Drought8%Tornadoes7%Everything else19%

By hazard

What Sims faces

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

32% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 100 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Sims flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wilson County.

Disasters that hit Sims

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SimsDeclared for Wilson County only

2018

Hurricane Florence

1 household applied for aid

2016

Hurricane Matthew

8 households applied for aid

2011

Hurricane Irene

4 households applied for aid $778 aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2003

Hurricane Isabel

4 households applied for aid $718 aid approved

Wilson 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. Sims 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 Sims’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Sims. 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.