Natural hazards · Biltmore

Biltmore, TN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Biltmore comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1998.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Biltmore?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Biltmore to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding75%Strong wind8%Earthquakes5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Biltmore faces

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

Inland flooding

75% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Biltmore flood?

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

7paid claims since 1998

$47Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19982026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Carter County.

Disasters that hit Biltmore

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Carter County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Biltmore itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into BiltmoreDeclared for Carter County only

Carter County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Biltmore

Biltmore and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elizabethtonmostly inland floodingModerate

Biltmoremostly inland floodingLow

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. Biltmore covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Biltmore’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Biltmore. 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 Biltmore total about $995K 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.