Natural hazards · Virginia

Virginia, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Virginia comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Virginia?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Virginia to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves.

Cold waves62%Inland flooding12%Ice storms11%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Virginia faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Cold waves

62% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 24 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 9% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Ice storms

11% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Virginia flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Virginia.

Disasters that hit Virginia

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Towner County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Virginia itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into VirginiaDeclared for Towner County only

Towner County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Virginia

Virginia and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Virginiamostly cold wavesLow

Howellmostly cold wavesLow

Crocusmostly cold wavesLow

Rock Lakemostly cold wavesLow

Teddymostly cold wavesLow

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Virginia is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Virginia’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Virginia. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.