Natural hazards · Waves

Waves, NC natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Waves comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Waves?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Waves to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes82%Coastal flooding11%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Waves faces

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

Hurricanes

82% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Coastal flooding

11% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

Inland floodingTornadoesHailIce 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 Waves flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Dare County.

Disasters that hit Waves

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WavesDeclared for Dare County only

2016

Hurricane Matthew

1 household applied for aid

2011

Hurricane Irene

99 households applied for aid $253K aid approved

2003

Hurricane Isabel

3 households applied for aid

Dare 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. Waves 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 Waves’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Waves. 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.