Disaster Data / States / North Carolina / Henderson County

County

Henderson County, North Carolina

Henderson County recorded 12 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 4 major disasters, 7 emergencies, and 1 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Henderson County, NC

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

12
Declarations since FY2000
4
Major disasters (DR)
7
Emergencies (EM)
1
Fire management (FM)
Jan 2026
Most recent
$86.7M
Federal PA obligated (top: debris removal)

The federal disaster record for Henderson County runs between 2004 and 2024, covering 12 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, biological, and tropical storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $86.7 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 37089
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
42.9
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 42.9% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status43.6
Household characteristics59.6
Racial and ethnic minority status49.1
Housing type and transportation28.1

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
83.8
overall risk score
Relatively Moderate
Expected annual loss$40.7MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability69.3Relatively High
Community resilience40.1Relatively Moderate

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$31,876,438
Buildings and equipment(E)35$23,253,576
Emergency protective measures(B)136$22,187,389
Parks and recreation(G)25$4,166,228
Roads and bridges(C)12$3,590,508
Management costs(Z)11$862,942
Water control facilities(D)1$429,124
Utilities(F)7$284,328
All categories251$86,650,533

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 67 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$73.3M
105 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$12.7M
415 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Ivan 2004$525K
26 days to first federal obligation
Tropical Storm Frances 2004$52K
29 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.

30,122
valid registrations
20,823
households approved
$79,245,326
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$38,899,525
Rental assistance$3,405,493
Other needs$36,874,603

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.

$15,728,926
federal mitigation share
6
funded projects
53
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)6$15,728,926

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.

1
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
Oct 10, 201874Executive Order No. 74: Declaration of a State of EmergencyFlash Flood$5,000

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 Henderson 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
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 11, 2016FM-5161-NCFM
HurricaneSep 5, 2005EM-3222-NCEM
HurricaneSep 18, 2004DR-1553-NCDR
HurricaneSep 10, 2004DR-1546-NCDR

Every declaration on record

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

Showing 12 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Sep 28, 2024DR-4827-NCDRTropical StormTropical Storm Helene
Sep 26, 2024EM-3617-NCEMTropical StormHurricane Helene
Oct 1, 2022EM-3586-NCEMHurricaneHurricane Ian
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 11, 2016FM-5161-NCFMFireParty Rock Fire
Sep 5, 2005EM-3222-NCEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Sep 18, 2004DR-1553-NCDRHurricaneHurricane Ivan
Sep 10, 2004DR-1546-NCDRHurricaneTropical Storm Frances
← 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