Natural hazards · Speed

Speed, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Speed comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 2001. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Speed?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Speed to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding30%Hurricanes20%Strong wind20%Drought13%Tornadoes8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Speed faces

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

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Strong wind

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Speed flood?

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

12paid claims since 2001

$137Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20012026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Matthew: 6 claims, $100K
Hurricane Eta: 4 claims, $32K

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. Speed 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

11flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Speed

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SpeedDeclared for Edgecombe County only

2016

Hurricane Matthew

5 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2011

Hurricane Irene

2 households applied for aid

1999

Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations

$27K to the Town of Speed 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. Speed 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 Speed’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Speed. 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.