Photo: Gerry Dincher from Hope Mills, NC · CC BY-SA 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Garland
Garland isn’t graded for hazard risk: Garland has 704 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Garland 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
Tornadoes
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 Garland flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Garland. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Garland isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Sampson County.8 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Garland
Disasters that paid out in Garland itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Garland), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2018Hurricane Florence268 households applied for aid$308K aid approved$31K to the Town of Garland for repairs
- 2016Hurricane Matthew259 households applied for aid$323K aid approved$12K to the Town of Garland for repairs
- 2011Hurricane Irene9 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
- 2011Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding30 households applied for aid$19K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Ivan1 households applied for aid$345 aid approved
- 2004Tropical Storm Frances21 households applied for aid$26K aid approved
Show all 8
- 2003Hurricane Isabel172 households applied for aid$107K aid approved
- 1999Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations$10K to the Town of Garland for repairs
Sampson County has had 19 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Garland after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Garland archive →Get ready for what Garland 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.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- 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 Garland
Is Garland 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 Sampson County, 14% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Garland?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Garland’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 Garland?
By FEMA money that reached Garland, Hurricane Florence (2018): 268 households applied for aid, $308K approved, and $31K to the Town of Garland for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Garland.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Garland’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.