Philip Sowers House · Photo: AmaryllisGardener · CC BY-SA 4.0FEMA expects about as much hazard damage per building in Tyro as in the typical U.S. town, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Tyro gets a B− for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 50% of U.S. towns, #150 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 Tyro 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
Hurricanes
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 Tyro’s grade
River and rain flooding is 82% of the building damage FEMA expects in Tyro, and Tyro’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 66% of U.S. census tracts. Ice storms add 3%, at a rate in the top 7% of U.S. census tracts.
B− #150 of 290 in North Carolina; lower expected damage per building than 50% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Tyro’s residents live in 3 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical North Carolina town has lower expected damage than 51% of U.S. towns; within the state, Tyro has more expected damage per building than 52% of North Carolina towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.1M a year in losses across Tyro: $850K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Tyro flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Tyro. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Tyro isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Davidson County.The storms Tyro remembers
None of the 25 disasters declared for Davidson County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Tyro itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Davidson County has had 25 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 Tyro 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.
- 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.
- 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 Tyro
Is Tyro at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Tyro has lower expected damage per building than 50% of U.S. towns: B− for hazard risk, #150 of 290 in North Carolina. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (82%) and tornadoes (6%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Tyro 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 Davidson County, 33% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Tyro?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Tyro’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Tyro at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (82%), and Tyro’s rate for it is higher than 66% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Tyro.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Tyro’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.