New Hanover County, NC flood risk explained
Flood hazard in New Hanover County sits at the 89.9th national percentile, well above the national norm for flood hazard; split between inland river flooding (about 2.5 times a year) and coastal storm surge (about 3.7 times a year). This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
New Hanover County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Out of 9,484 homes FEMA counts inside New Hanover County's mapped flood zone, 7,093 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 74.8% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 14.7% of all residential structures in New Hanover County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
New Hanover County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, New Hanover County ranks 334 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 298 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. New Hanover County, North Carolina is home to about 243,333 people across 192.27 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in New Hanover County
12,808 of New Hanover County's 87,145 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where New Hanover County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. New Hanover County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.