Storms, floods and disasters in Cove City
Cove City isn’t graded for hazard risk: Cove City has 504 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Cove City 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.
Does Cove City flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cove City. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cove City 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.5 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Cove City
Disasters that paid out in Cove City itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Cove City), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2018Hurricane Florence125 households applied for aid$47K aid approved
- 2016Hurricane Matthew32 households applied for aid$14K aid approved
- 2011Hurricane Irene138 households applied for aid$131K aid approved
- 2010Severe Storms, Flooding, and Straight-line Winds39 households applied for aid$198K aid approved
- 2003Hurricane Isabel23 households applied for aid$16K aid approved
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.
Old photos of Cove City after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Cove City archive →Get ready for what Cove City 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 Cove City
Is Cove City 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 Cove City?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cove City’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Cove City?
By FEMA money that reached Cove City, Severe Storms, Flooding, and Straight-line Winds (2010): 39 households applied for aid, $198K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cove City.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cove City’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.