Storms, floods and disasters in Hallsboro
Hallsboro isn’t graded for hazard risk: Hallsboro has 291 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Hallsboro 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 Hallsboro flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Hallsboro. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Hallsboro isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Columbus County.5 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Hallsboro
Disasters that paid out in Hallsboro itself (aid to households or repair grants to Hallsboro), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2018Hurricane Florence182 households applied for aid$251K aid approved
- 2016Hurricane Matthew162 households applied for aid$99K aid approved
- 2011Hurricane Irene19 households applied for aid$5K aid approved
- 2004Tropical Storm Frances91 households applied for aid$176K aid approved
- 2003Hurricane Isabel119 households applied for aid$144K aid approved
Columbus County has had 21 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 Hallsboro after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Hallsboro archive →Get ready for what Hallsboro 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 Hallsboro
Is Hallsboro 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 Columbus County, 33% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 2.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Hallsboro?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Hallsboro’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 Hallsboro?
By FEMA money that reached Hallsboro, Hurricane Florence (2018): 182 households applied for aid, $251K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Hallsboro.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Hallsboro’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.