North Carolina Effective Flood zones: In 2000, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designated North Carolina a Cooperating Technical Partner State, formalizing an agreement between FEMA and the State to modernize flood maps. This partnership resulted in creation of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program (NCFMP). As a CTS, the State assumed primary ownership and responsibility of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for all North Carolina communities as part of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This project includes conducting flood hazard analyses and producing updated, Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs). Floodplain management is a process that aims to achieve reduced losses due to flooding. It takes on many forms, but is realized through a series of federal, state, and local programs and regulations, in concert with industry practice, to identify flood risk, implement methods to protect man-made development from flooding, and protect the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains. FIRMs are the primary tool for state and local governments to mitigate areas of flooding. Individual county databases can be downloaded from https://fris.nc.gov Updated Sep 19th, 2025.

These polygon boundaries, inundation extents, and depth rasters were created to provide an extent of flood inundation along the Tar River within the community of Princeville, North Carolina. The upstream and downstream reach extent is determined by the location of high-water marks, not extending the boundary far past the outermost high-water marks. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the model boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. This boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer from the flood water surface raster file. The passage of Hurricane Matthew through central and eastern North Carolina during October 7-9, 2016, brought heavy rainfall which resulted in major flooding. More than 15 inches of rain were recorded in some areas. Over 600 roads were closed including Interstates 95 and 40, and nearly 99,000 structures were impacted by floodwaters. Immediately after the flooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented 267 high-water marks (HWM), of which 254 were surveyed. The North Carolina Emergency Management documented and surveyed 353 HWMs. The North Carolina Geodetic Survey documented and surveyed 12 HWMs within the town of Princeville. Seven communities were mapped using Geographic Information Systems. This is the model inundated area layer for the community of Princeville.

These polygon boundaries, inundation extents, and depth rasters were created to provide an extent of flood inundation along the Lumber River within the community of Lumberton, North Carolina. The upstream and downstream reach extent is determined by the location of high-water marks, not extending the boundary far past the outermost high-water marks. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the model boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. This boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer from the flood water surface raster file. The passage of Hurricane Matthew through central and eastern North Carolina during October 7-9, 2016, brought heavy rainfall which resulted in major flooding. More than 15 inches of rain were recorded in some areas. Over 600 roads were closed including Interstates 95 and 40, and nearly 99,000 structures were impacted by floodwaters. Immediately after the flooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented 267 high-water marks (HWM), of which 254 were surveyed. The North Carolina Emergency Management documented and surveyed 353 HWMs. Six communities were mapped using Geographic Information Systems.

These polygon boundaries, inundation extents, and depth rasters were created to provide an extent of flood inundation along the Neuse River within the community of Smithfield, North Carolina. The upstream and downstream reach extent is determined by the location of high-water marks, not extending the boundary far past the outermost high-water marks. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the model boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. This boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer from the flood water surface raster file. The passage of Hurricane Matthew through central and eastern North Carolina during October 7-9, 2016, brought heavy rainfall which resulted in major flooding. More than 15 inches of rain were recorded in some areas. Over 600 roads were closed including Interstates 95 and 40, and nearly 99,000 structures were impacted by floodwaters. Immediately after the flooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented 267 high-water marks (HWM), of which 254 were surveyed. The North Carolina Emergency Management documented and surveyed 353 HWMs. Six communities were mapped using Geographic Information Systems.

Flood zone mapping for development review purposes. Combination of 10/19/2018 effective and 3/31/2015 preliminary data). When remaining panels along southeast boundaries with Wake County and norheast boundary near Butner become effective, will revert to one set of data for flood insurance and development review purposes). Repository for all FEMA floodplain data and map revisions are found at: https://fris.nc.gov/fris/Index.aspx?FIPS=063=NC=General%20PublicCreditsFEMA, City of Durham, Durham CountyUse limitationsInformation depicted hereon is for reference purposes only and is compiled from the best available sources. The City of Durham/Durham County assumes no responsibility for errors arising from use or misuse of this map.

These polygon boundaries, inundation extents, and depth rasters were created to provide an extent of flood inundation along the Neuse River within the community of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The upstream and downstream reach extent is determined by the location of high-water marks, not extending the boundary far past the outermost high-water marks. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the model boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. This boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer from the flood water surface raster file. The passage of Hurricane Matthew through central and eastern North Carolina during October 7-9, 2016, brought heavy rainfall which resulted in major flooding. More than 15 inches of rain were recorded in some areas. Over 600 roads were closed including Interstates 95 and 40, and nearly 99,000 structures were impacted by floodwaters. Immediately after the flooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented 267 high-water marks (HWM), of which 254 were surveyed. The North Carolina Emergency Management documented and surveyed 353 HWMs. Six communities were mapped using Geographic Information Systems.

This maps shows and explains the location and differences between different flood zones. For more information regarding flood zones visit the FEMA website.FEMA Link: https://www.fema.gov/flood-maps

A one-hundred-year flood is a flood event that has a 1% probability of occurring in any given year. The 100-year flood is also referred to as the 1% flood, since its annual exceedance probability is 1%,[1] or as having a return period of 100-years. The 100-year flood is generally expressed as a flowrate. Based on the expected 100-year flood flow rate in a given creek, river or surface water system, the flood water level can be mapped as an area of inundation. The resulting floodplain map is referred to as the 100-year floodplain, which may figure very importantly in building permits, environmental regulations, and flood insurance. Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map are identified as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). SFHA are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood.

This Flood Insurance Study was produced through a cooperative partnership between the State of North Carolina and FEMA. The North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program, through FEMA's Cooperating Technical State (CTS) Initiative, is conducting flood hazard analyses and producing updated, digital FIRM panels for all North Carolina communities. Additional information regarding the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program and the data collected during the mapping process are available at http://www.ncfloodmaps.com. The Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) Database depicts flood risk information and supporting data used to develop the risk data. The primary risk classifications used are the 1-percent-annual-chance flood event, the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood event, and areas of minimal flood risk. The DFIRM Database is derived from Flood Insurance Studies (FISs), previously published Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), flood hazard analyses performed in support of the FISs and FIRMs, and new mapping data, where available. The FISs and FIRMs are published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The file is georeferenced to the earth's surface using the NC State Plane Coordinate System, North American Datum 1983, Units of Feet. The specifications for the horizontal control of DFIRM data files are consistent with those required for mapping at a scale of 1:12,000.

These polygon boundaries, inundation extents, and depth rasters were created to provide an extent of flood inundation along the Neuse River within the community of Kinston, North Carolina. The upstream and downstream reach extent is determined by the location of high-water marks, not extending the boundary far past the outermost high-water marks. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the model boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. This boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer from the flood water surface raster file. The passage of Hurricane Matthew through central and eastern North Carolina during October 7-9, 2016, brought heavy rainfall which resulted in major flooding. More than 15 inches of rain were recorded in some areas. Over 600 roads were closed including Interstates 95 and 40, and nearly 99,000 structures were impacted by floodwaters. Immediately after the flooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented 267 high-water marks (HWM), of which 254 were surveyed. The North Carolina Emergency Management documented and surveyed 353 HWMs. Six communities were mapped using Geographic Information Systems.

These polygon boundaries, inundation extents, and depth rasters were created to provide an extent of flood inundation along the Rockfish Creek within the community of Hope Mills, North Carolina. The upstream and downstream reach extent is determined by the location of high-water marks, not extending the boundary far past the outermost high-water marks. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the model boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. This boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer from the flood water surface raster file. The passage of Hurricane Matthew through central and eastern North Carolina during October 7-9, 2016, brought heavy rainfall which resulted in major flooding. More than 15 inches of rain were recorded in some areas. Over 600 roads were closed including Interstates 95 and 40, and nearly 99,000 structures were impacted by floodwaters. Immediately after the flooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented 267 high-water marks (HWM), of which 254 were surveyed. The North Carolina Emergency Management documented and surveyed 353 HWMs. Six communities were mapped using Geographic Information Systems.

These polygon boundaries, inundation extents, and depth rasters were created to provide an extent of flood inundation along the Lumber River within the community of Fair Bluff, North Carolina. The upstream and downstream reach extent is determined by the location of high-water marks, not extending the boundary far past the outermost high-water marks. In areas of uncertainty of flood extent, the model boundary is lined up with the flood inundation polygon extent. This boundary polygon was used to extract the final flood inundation polygon and depth layer from the flood water surface raster file. The passage of Hurricane Matthew through central and eastern North Carolina during October 7-9, 2016, brought heavy rainfall which resulted in major flooding. More than 15 inches of rain were recorded in some areas. Over 600 roads were closed including Interstates 95 and 40, and nearly 99,000 structures were impacted by floodwaters. Immediately after the flooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented 267 high-water marks (HWM), of which 254 were surveyed. The North Carolina Emergency Management documented and surveyed 353 HWMs. Six communities were mapped using Geographic Information Systems.

North Carolina Preliminary Flood zones: In 2000, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designated North Carolina a Cooperating Technical Partner State, formalizing an agreement between FEMA and the State to modernize flood maps. This partnership resulted in creation of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program (NCFMP). As a CTS, the State assumed primary ownership and responsibility of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for all North Carolina communities as part of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This project includes conducting flood hazard analyses and producing updated, Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs). Floodplain management is a process that aims to achieve reduced losses due to flooding. It takes on many forms, but is realized through a series of federal, state, and local programs and regulations, in concert with industry practice, to identify flood risk, implement methods to protect man-made development from flooding, and protect the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains. FIRMs are the primary tool for state and local governments to mitigate areas of flooding. The North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program creates DFIRM maps to reflect the risk of flooding and distributes these to local communities for review and approval. These zones are currently in the process of local review and revision. Individual county databases can be downloaded from https://fris.nc.gov/fris.

DescriptionNational Hurricane Center - National Storm Surge Hazard Maps - https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/nationalsurge/The SLOSH (Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes) model is a numerical model used by NWS to compute storm surge. Storm surge is defined as the abnormal rise of water generated by a storm, over and above the predicted astronomical tides. Flooding from storm surge depends on many factors, such as the track, intensity, size, and forward speed of the hurricane and the characteristics of the coastline where it comes ashore or passes nearby. For planning purposes, the NHC uses a representative sample of hypothetical storms to estimate the near worst-case scenario of flooding for each hurricane category.This is version 3 of the NHC National Storm Surge Risk Maps. The updates in this version include data mapped to 10m DEMs for the US Gulf and East Coast. The following new regions have been added: Southern California (hurricane wind category 1 and 2 storms), Guam, American Samoa, and the Yucatan Peninsula for parts of Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. For simplicity, the tiled map services are published by hurricane wind category and all available mapped regions for that category are provided in that web map.The following areas are mapped:US Gulf and East Coast (Category 5 south of NC/VA border only)Puerto Rico and US Virgin IslandsSouthern California (Category 1-2 only)Hawaii (Category 1-4 only)GuamAmerican SamoaHispaniolaYucatan Peninsula- parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and western HondurasSLOSH employs curvilinear polar, elliptical, and hyperbolic telescoping mesh grids to simulate the storm surge hazard. The spatial coverage for each SLOSH grid ranges from an area the size of a few counties to a few states. The resolution of individual grid cells within each basin ranges from tens to hundreds of meters to a kilometer or more. Sub-grid scale water features and topographic obstructions such as channels, rivers, and cuts and levees, barriers, and roads, respectively, are parameterized to improve the modeled water levels.The NHC provides two products based on hypothetical hurricanes: MEOWs and MOMs. MEOWs are created by computing the maximum storm surge resulting from up to 100,000 hypothetical storms simulated through each SLOSH grid of varying forward speed, radius of maximum wind, intensity (Categories 1-5), landfall location, tide level, and storm direction. A MEOW product is created for each combination of category, forward speed, storm direction, and tide level. SLOSH products exclude Category 5 storms north of the NC/VA border. SLOSH products only include hurricane wind Category 1-4 scenarios for Hawaii and hurricane wind category 1-2 scenarios for Southern California. For each storm combination, parallel storms make landfall in 5 to 10 mile increments along the coast within the SLOSH grid, and the maximum storm surge footprint from each simulation is composited, retaining the maximum height of storm surge in a given basin grid cell. These are called MEOWs and no single hurricane will produce the regional flooding depicted in the MEOWs. SLOSH model MOMs are an ensemble product of maximum storm surge heights. SLOSH MOMs are created for each storm category by retaining the maximum storm surge value in each grid cell for all the MEOWs, regardless of the forward speed, storm trajectory, or landfall location. SLOSH MOMs are available for mean tide and high tide scenarios and represent the near worst-case scenario of flooding under ideal storm conditions. A high tide initial water level was used for the storm surge hazard maps.This product uses the expertise of the NHC Storm Surge Unit to merge the operational SLOSH grids to build a seamless map of storm surge hazard scenarios using the MOM product. Each individual SLOSH grid for the Category 1-5 MOMs are merged into a single, seamless grid. The seamless grid is then resampled, interpolated, and processed with a DEM (Digital Elevation Model, i.e. topography) to compute the storm surge hazard above ground for each hurricane wind category. The SLOSH MOM storm surge hazard data used to create these maps are constrained by the extent of the SLOSH grids and users should be aware that risk due to storm surge flooding could extend beyond the areas depicted in these maps.Users of this hazard map should be aware that potential storm surge flooding is not depicted within some levee areas, such as the Hurricane & Storm Damage Risk Reduction System in Louisiana. These areas are highly complex and water levels resulting from overtopping are difficult to predict. Users are urged to consult local officials for flood risk inside these leveed areas. If applicable to the region displayed by the map, these leveed areas will be depicted with a black and white diagonal hatch pattern. Not all levee areas are included in this analysis - in particular, local features such as construction walls, levees, berms, pumping systems, or other mitigation systems found at the local level may not be included in this analysis. Additionally, some marshy or low lying areas are not mapped in this analysis.In locations that have a steep and narrow continental shelf, wave setup can be a substantial contributor to the total water level rise observed during a tropical cyclone. Wave setup is defined as the increase in mean water level due to momentum transfer to the water column by waves that are breaking or otherwise dissipating their energy. The following locations use SLOSH+Wave Setup simulations to create MEOW and MOM products that account for the increase in the mean water level due to wave setup: Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Hispaniola, Guam, American Samoa, and Southern California. Through the USAID/WMO Coastal Inundation and Flooding Demonstration Project, these SLOSH storm surge risk products were created for the Island of Hispaniola.

The Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) Database depicts flood risk information and supporting data used to develop the risk data. The primary risk classifications used are the 1-percent-annual-chance flood event, the 0.2-percent-annual- chance flood event, and areas of minimal flood risk. The DFIRM Database is derived from Flood Insurance Studies (FISs), previously published Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), flood hazard analyses performed in support of the FISs and FIRMs, and new mapping data, where available. The FISs and FIRMs are published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In addition to the preceding, required text, the Abstract should also describe the projection and coordinate system as well as a general statement about horizontal accuracy.

In this module, the learner will learn how to generate the flood risk map through the case study of the 2024 Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. The step-by-step workflow to create impact-based flood forecasting will be provided, in which we will use the National Water Model (NWM) forecasted streamflow input for Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC)-8 level. You will learn to implement the HAND method for FIM along with SVI and OWP-NWM streamflow input to generate flood risk map for quick evacuation planning with low computational demands.

The Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) Database depicts flood risk information and supporting data used to develop the risk data. The primary risk classifications used are the 1-percent-annual-chance flood event, the 0.2-percent-annual- chance flood event, and areas of minimal flood risk. The DFIRM Database is derived from Flood Insurance Studies (FISs), previously published Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), flood hazard analyses performed in support of the FISs and FIRMs, and new mapping data, where available. The FISs and FIRMs are published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The file is georeferenced to earth's surface using the South Carolina (FIPS 3900) State Plane projection and coordinate system. The specifications for the horizontal control of DFIRM data files are consistent with those required for mapping at a scale of 1:12,000.

A digital elevation model (DEM) for North Carolina. The grid cell size is 3 feet. Data used to create the DEM was derived from LiDAR collected by the NC Floodplain Mapping Program and processed by NC Department of Public Safety - Division of Emergency Management.Download county-based DEMs from the NC OneMap Direct Data Downloads. Data should not be downloaded using the map on the dataset's item page.

These data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer called the Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer. It depicts potential sea level rise and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The purpose of the mapping viewer is to provide coastal managers and scientist...

This layer summarizes the social vulnerability index for populations within each county in the United States at scales 1:3m and below. It answers the question “Where are the areas of relatively higher risk within this county?” from the perspective of social vulnerability. For emergency response planning and hazard mitigation, populations can be assessed from a perspective of their vulnerability to various hazards (fire, flood, etc). Physical vulnerability refers to a population’s exposure to specific potential hazards, such as living in a designated flood plain. Social vulnerability refers to potential exposure due to population and housing characteristics: age, low income, disability, home value or other factors. For example, low-income seniors may not have access to a car to simply drive away from an ongoing hazard such as a flood. ESRI applied a model from Susan Cutter, University of South Carolina, Hazards Research Lab, Department of Geography (http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/), to generate this data using current year demographics at the block group level. The map is designed to be displayed with semi-transparency of about 50% for overlay on other base-maps, which is reflected in the legend for the map.