The Triangle's roof record: Wake County hail, the 2011 tornadoes and Chantal's floods

Wake County hail, by the numbers

From 2016 through 2025, NOAA's Storm Events Database records 125 hail events in Wake County: 93 with stones of 1 inch or larger, 22 at 1.75 inches or more and 12 at 2 inches or more, spread across 26 different days. The recorded property damage from that hail totals $110 million, and three storms account for that total:

The 2019 entry describes a supercell dropping golf ball to baseball-size hail that caused extensive damage to homes, cars, buildings and businesses along its path; the smaller companion entry specifically mentions damaged shingles and broken windows. The biggest stones in Wake since 2000 fell on March 28, 2005: elongated hail of 3.5 to 4 inches near I-540 and Falls of Neuse Road. If you are replacing a roof here, NRD's Class 4 shingle explainer describes what that impact rating means.

April 16, 2011

The strongest tornado in this area's record struck that day. The database's Wake County entry follows an EF3 that crossed in from Chatham County, first damaging trees and roofs along Avent Ferry Road southwest of Holly Springs; it is recorded with four deaths, 67 injuries and $115 million in damage. In Johnston County, an EF2 south of Benson destroyed several modular homes and injured 67 people, and just to the southwest an EF3 in Lee County is recorded with two deaths. FEMA declared DR-1969 for those storms, covering Johnston, Lee and Wake.

Chantal's floods, July 2025

Tropical Storm Chantal came ashore in South Carolina, but NHC's report says the most significant rain and flooding hit the northwestern Raleigh-Durham metro. Totals topped 10 inches north of Hillsborough and near Chapel Hill, several locations exceeded the 1,000-year recurrence interval for six-hour rainfall, and the Eno River crested at 23.04 feet near Huckleberry Springs, the highest crest on record there. The same report counts about 80 people rescued in Durham County when the Eno overflowed and 50 more in Chapel Hill, with damage in Orange County believed to exceed $30 million. FEMA declared DR-4889 for Durham and Orange.

Other entries on the Triangle ledger

• Durham, May 2014. An EF1 near Durham damaged about 40 homes, mostly through falling trees and debris.
• Orange, April 2019. An EF2 in southwest Orange County snapped and split healthy large trees onto homes and vehicles.
• Johnston, August 2019. A thunderstorm wind event around Benson brought down more than 40 trees, several onto homes.

Triangle trade groups and lookups

• The HBA of Raleigh-Wake County runs a Find A Professional search of its members.
• The HBA of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties publishes a membership directory and a Find a Pro page.
• The roofers' regional association, CRSMCA, listed its 2026 Carolinas Mid-Winter Roofing Expo at the Durham Convention Center for February 17 to 19 on its own site.
• For any contractor, the state's license search accepts Raleigh, Durham or Cary as a city, and a license is required on projects of $40,000 or more, per the board.

The directory has city pages for roofers in Raleigh, Durham and Cary, and county pages for Wake, Durham and Johnston.

Frequently asked questions

What was the costliest hailstorm in Wake County?

The May 13, 2019 supercell, which dropped hail up to 2.75 inches across southern Wake and into Johnston County, is recorded in NOAA's database with $95 million in property damage.

Did the April 16, 2011 tornadoes get a federal disaster declaration?

Yes. FEMA's DR-1969, for severe storms, tornadoes and flooding, was declared on April 19, 2011 and includes Johnston, Lee and Wake counties.

How high did the Eno River rise during Chantal?

It crested at 23.04 feet near Huckleberry Springs, the highest crest ever recorded there, according to the National Hurricane Center.