Ingleside · Photo: Frederick D. Nichols, Photographer · Public domainFEMA expects less hazard damage per building in Lowesville than in 63% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lowesville gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns, #83 of 290 in North Carolina. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (82%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
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
What Lowesville 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
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.
What’s behind Lowesville’s grade
River and rain flooding is 82% of the building damage FEMA expects in Lowesville, and Lowesville’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 57% of U.S. census tracts. Ice storms add 4%, at a rate in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts.
B #83 of 290 in North Carolina; lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Lowesville’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
The typical North Carolina town has lower expected damage than 51% of U.S. towns; within the state, Lowesville has less expected damage per building than 72% of North Carolina towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.7M a year in losses across Lowesville: $1.5M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Lowesville flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Lowesville. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Lowesville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Lincoln County.The storms Lowesville remembers
None of the 17 disasters declared for Lincoln County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Lowesville itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Lincoln County has had 17 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.
Get ready for what Lowesville faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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 Lowesville
Is Lowesville at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lowesville has lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk, #83 of 290 in North Carolina. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (82%) and tornadoes (8%). 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 Lowesville 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 Lincoln County, 15% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Lowesville?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Lowesville’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Lowesville at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (82%), and Lowesville’s rate for it is higher than 57% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Lowesville.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Lowesville’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.