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North Carolina Granite Corporation Quarry ComplexNorth Carolina Granite Corporation Quarry Complex · Photo: Nmg27510 · Public domain
C+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Flat Rock · FEMA

FEMA expects about as much hazard damage per building in Flat Rock as in the typical U.S. town, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Flat Rock gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (90%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 90%Tornadoes 4%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 60%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 60% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
90% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 16 declared for Surry County
By hazard

What Flat Rock 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

90%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 78% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Earthquakes Hurricanes Ice storms Strong wind Hail Lightning Wildfire Winter storms Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 32% of Flat Rock’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 Flat Rock’s grade

River and rain flooding is 90% of the building damage FEMA expects in Flat Rock, and Flat Rock’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 78% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Flat Rock sits
Flat Rock
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C+ higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding90%Tornadoes4%Everything else7%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $396K a year in losses across Flat Rock: $219K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Flat Rock’s 1,326 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 Flat Rock flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Flat Rock. 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

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

Insurance rates: Surry County.
Disasters

The storms Flat Rock remembers

None of the 16 disasters declared for Surry County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Flat Rock itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Flat RockSurry County only

Surry County has had 16 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.

Next door

Flat Rock and its neighbors

Flat Rock has the lowest expected damage per building of the 2 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Mount Airy: hazard risk CMount AiryFlat Rock
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Flat RockC+more damage than 60%river and rain flooding0
Mount AiryCmore damage than 66%river and rain flooding43

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Flat Rock 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 Flat Rock

Is Flat Rock at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Flat Rock has higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (90%). 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 Flat Rock 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 Surry County, 10% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.1% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Flat Rock?

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

Is Flat Rock at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (90%), and Flat Rock’s rate for it is higher than 78% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Flat Rock.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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