On FEMA’s figures, few U.S. towns expect more hazard damage per building than Cherry Branch, mostly from hurricanes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cherry Branch gets a D− for hazard risk: among the highest expected damage per building of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is hurricanes (86%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Cherry Branch faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
River and rain flooding
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
What’s behind Cherry Branch’s grade
Hurricanes are 86% of the building damage FEMA expects in Cherry Branch, and Cherry Branch’s rate of hurricanes damage is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 2%, at a rate in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.
D− among the highest expected damage per building of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Cherry Branch’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.2M a year in losses across Cherry Branch: $996K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Cherry Branch flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cherry Branch. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cherry Branch isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Craven County.The storms Cherry Branch remembers
None of the 22 disasters declared for Craven County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cherry Branch itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Craven County has had 22 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Get ready for what Cherry Branch faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Cherry Branch
Is Cherry Branch at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cherry Branch has among the highest expected damage per building of U.S. towns: D− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is hurricanes (86%) and river and rain flooding (10%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Cherry Branch in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Craven County, 61% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 11.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Cherry Branch?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cherry Branch’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Cherry Branch at risk from hurricanes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (86%), and Cherry Branch’s rate for it is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cherry Branch.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cherry Branch’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.