On FEMA’s figures, Briggs faces more hazard damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Briggs gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%), then wildfire (13%). 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 Briggs 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
Wildfire
Ice storms
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 Briggs’ grade
River and rain flooding is 70% of the building damage FEMA expects in Briggs, and Briggs’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 89% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 13%, at a rate in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts.
D higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Briggs’ residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $656K a year in losses across Briggs: $247K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Briggs flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Briggs. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Briggs isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cherokee County.The storms Briggs remembers
None of the 21 disasters declared for Cherokee County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Briggs itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Cherokee County has had 21 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Briggs and its neighbors
Briggs has the lowest expected damage per building of the 1 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.
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.
Get ready for what Briggs 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.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Ice brings down trees and lines: plan for days without power.
- Run a generator outside, far from doors and windows.
- Keep sand or salt by the door.
- 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 Briggs
Is Briggs at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Briggs has higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%) and wildfire (13%). 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 Briggs 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 Cherokee County, 11% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Briggs?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Briggs’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Briggs at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (70%), and Briggs’ rate for it is higher than 89% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Briggs.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Briggs’ 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.