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Risk & Response

Columbus County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 86.3 Very High

50,140
Population
13
Departments
18
Stations
15
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.63
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
31st highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
1.26
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
9th highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$29.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
31st highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$585
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
18th highest of 100

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Columbus County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 23% of the life-safety total.

Columbus County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $29.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Columbus County ranks 895th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1323rd for life safety per 100k residents, 604th for property loss, and 622nd for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Columbus County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Columbus County.

Talk to us about Columbus County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

70%
20%
10%
Property (buildings): $29.3M (69.6%)
Life safety: $8.6M (20.5%)
Agriculture: $4.2M (9.9%)

Total expected annual loss: $42,143,531 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Agriculture is 10% of expected annual loss in Columbus County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Tornado
$2.0M
Heat Wave
$1.5M
Lightning
$1.2M
Strong Wind
$1.0M
Cold Wave
$1.0M
Inland Flooding
$673K

By property loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$19.3M
Inland Flooding
$6.2M
Strong Wind
$1.4M
Tornado
$958K
Earthquake
$872K
Ice Storm
$265K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Columbus County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

15%
85%
Combination: 15% (2)
Volunteer: 85% (11)
Residents per Station
2,786
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
35.9
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 13 departments registered in NERIS Public for Columbus County, NC. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Columbus County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 13 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Tabor City Fire Department 6,039 $1.1M Very High 2
Whiteville Fire Department 4,730 $854.7K Very High 2
Acme-Delco-Riegelwood Fire-Rescue, Inc 4,914 $696.1K Very High 3
Williams Township Community Fire Department 3,610 $612.9K Relatively High 1
North Whiteville Volunteer Fire Department 3,383 $580.3K Very High 1
Roseland Fire Department 2,143 $376.4K Very High 1
Nakina Fire And Rescue 2,232 $363.4K Relatively High 2
Cerro Gordo Fire & Rescue Department 1,641 $291.8K Very High 1
Old Dock / Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department 1,678 $213.5K Relatively Moderate 1
White Marsh-Welches Creek Fire Department 1,271 $195.9K Very High 1
Bolton Volunteer Fire And Rescue Department Inc. 949 $133.4K Relatively High 1
Buckhead Volunteer Fire Department And Rescue Squad 743 $115.8K Relatively High 1
Saint James Volunteer Fire Department 652 $112.6K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

18.2%
Poverty Rate
20.7%
Age 65+
17.5%
Disability Rate
12.7%
Uninsured
47.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
30.0%
Mobile Homes
14.9%
Vacancy Rate
0.8%
Wood Heat
$49,820
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

14
Last 10 Years
21
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo