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Cove Creek High SchoolCove Creek High School · Photo: Crimson henry · CC BY-SA 3.0
C−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Cove Creek · FEMA

FEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Cove Creek than in 83% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cove Creek gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 83% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (94%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 94%Tornadoes 2%Earthquakes 2%

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

more than 83%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
C−
in North Carolina · higher than 83% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
94% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 19 declared for Watauga County
By hazard

What Cove Creek faces

Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.

River and rain flooding

94%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 8% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Earthquakes Ice storms Hurricanes Hail Strong wind Wildfire Landslides top 2% Lightning Winter storms Cold waves
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHeat wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 13% of Cove Creek’s expected losses. Cold waves do little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

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.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Cove Creek’s grade

River and rain flooding is 94% of the building damage FEMA expects in Cove Creek, and Cove Creek’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 8% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Cove Creek sits
Cove Creek
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C− higher expected damage per building than 83% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Cove Creek’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding94%Everything else6%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $559K a year in losses across Cove Creek: $380K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Cove Creek’s 1,068 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract. FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Cove Creek flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cove Creek. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Cove Creek isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Watauga County.
Disasters

The storms Cove Creek remembers

None of the 19 disasters declared for Watauga County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cove Creek itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Cove CreekWatauga County only

Watauga County has had 19 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.

Be ready

Get ready for what Cove Creek faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Cove Creek

Is Cove Creek at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cove Creek has higher expected damage per building than 83% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (94%). 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 Cove Creek 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 Watauga County, 44% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 2.0% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Cove Creek?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cove Creek’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

Is Cove Creek at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (94%), and Cove Creek’s rate for it is in the top 8% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cove Creek.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cove Creek’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.