Disaster Data / States / North Carolina / Burke County

County

Burke County, North Carolina

Burke County recorded 16 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 8 major disasters, 7 emergencies, and 1 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Burke County, NC

Totals: FY2000–FY2025 · Page last rebuilt Sep 12, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

16
Declarations since FY2000
8
Major disasters (DR)
7
Emergencies (EM)
1
Fire management (FM)
Jan 2026
Most recent
$36.2M
Federal PA obligated (top: debris removal)

The federal disaster record for Burke County runs between 2002 and 2024, covering 16 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, severe storm, and biological. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $36.2 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for debris removal.

Risk and vulnerability context

Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.

County FIPS 37023
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
70.8
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 70.8% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status71.5
Household characteristics67.9
Racial and ethnic minority status51.5
Housing type and transportation62.5

Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
70.2
overall risk score
Relatively Low
Expected annual loss$22.8MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability67.8Relatively High
Community resilience30.9Relatively Low

The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation

About these measures: CDC Social Vulnerability Index and FEMA National Risk Index Social Vulnerability are separate measures built with different methods. They are shown side by side for context and should not be interpreted as equivalent scores.

Federal Public Assistance by category

Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.

CategoryProjectsFederal share obligated
Debris removal(A)24$12,670,580
Emergency protective measures(B)61$8,755,133
Parks and recreation(G)17$4,990,911
Buildings and equipment(E)14$4,899,185
Utilities(F)29$3,192,669
Management costs(Z)16$850,905
Water control facilities(D)5$474,781
Roads and bridges(C)13$332,825
All categories179$36,166,989

Recovery funding, how fast it came

For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 7-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 76 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.

Tropical Storm Helene 2024$30.5M
118 days to first federal obligation
Tropical Storm Eta 2021$296K
99 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$4.8M
2163 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides 2013$90K
54 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms And Flooding 2010$71K
42 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Ivan 2004$25K
31 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr7 yr

Assistance to households (Individual Assistance)

FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.

13,742
valid registrations
8,352
households approved
$18,871,417
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$6,077,214
Rental assistance$608,893
Other needs$12,180,705

Hazard mitigation, what has been funded here

Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.

$3,622,714
federal mitigation share
4
funded projects
13
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)4$3,622,714

State declarations (governor)

Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.

2
state declarations with local storm evidence
34
statewide on record

Archive coverage for North Carolina: 2017-01-06-present structured Governor archive; North Carolina Register backfill pending

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
Jul 31, 2020154DECLARATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA FOR HURRICANE ISAIASThunderstorm WindNot reported
Oct 10, 201874Executive Order No. 74: Declaration of a State of EmergencyFlood$2,000

Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.

Most common hazards

Previous occurrences, for your mitigation plan

Every local hazard mitigation plan must document previous occurrences of each hazard. Here is that record for Burke County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
Tropical StormSep 28, 2024DR-4827-NCDR
Tropical StormSep 26, 2024EM-3617-NCEM
HurricaneOct 1, 2022EM-3586-NCEM
Severe StormMar 3, 2021DR-4588-NCDR
HurricaneAug 2, 2020EM-3534-NCEM
BiologicalMar 25, 2020DR-4487-NCDR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3471-NCEM
HurricaneSep 3, 2019EM-3423-NCEM
HurricaneSep 10, 2018EM-3401-NCEM
FireNov 19, 2016FM-5164-NCFM
FloodSep 25, 2013DR-4146-NCDR
Severe StormFeb 2, 2010DR-1871-NCDR
HurricaneSep 5, 2005EM-3222-NCEM
HurricaneSep 18, 2004DR-1553-NCDR
HurricaneSep 10, 2004DR-1546-NCDR
Severe Ice StormDec 12, 2002DR-1448-NCDR

Every declaration on record

DR = Major disaster (Stafford Act) · EM = Emergency declaration · FM = Fire management assistance

Showing 16 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Sep 28, 2024DR-4827-NCDRTropical StormTropical Storm Helene
Sep 26, 2024EM-3617-NCEMTropical StormHurricane Helene
Oct 1, 2022EM-3586-NCEMHurricaneHurricane Ian
Mar 3, 2021DR-4588-NCDRSevere StormTropical Storm Eta
Aug 2, 2020EM-3534-NCEMHurricaneHurricane Isaias
Mar 25, 2020DR-4487-NCDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3471-NCEMBiologicalCovid-19
Sep 3, 2019EM-3423-NCEMHurricaneHurricane Dorian
Sep 10, 2018EM-3401-NCEMHurricaneHurricane Florence
Nov 19, 2016FM-5164-NCFMFireChestnut Knob Fire
Sep 25, 2013DR-4146-NCDRFloodSevere Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
Feb 2, 2010DR-1871-NCDRSevere StormSevere Winter Storms And Flooding
Sep 5, 2005EM-3222-NCEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Sep 18, 2004DR-1553-NCDRHurricaneHurricane Ivan
Sep 10, 2004DR-1546-NCDRHurricaneTropical Storm Frances
Dec 12, 2002DR-1448-NCDRSevere Ice StormSevere Ice Storm
← North Carolina statewide overview · All North Carolina jurisdictions

How these numbers are built

Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to North Carolina's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30); the in-progress year may appear in the most-recent list but is not counted in the totals. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.

Cite this profile

Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.

Other North Carolina jurisdictions