Natural hazards · Amherst

Amherst, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Amherst comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 30 claims here since 1978. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Amherst?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Amherst to be higher than in 28% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding71%Strong wind7%Hurricanes6%Earthquakes6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Amherst faces

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

Inland flooding

71% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Amherst flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Amherst, from FEMA’s records.

30paid claims since 1978

$132Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 1 claim, $4K
Hurricane Fran: 1 claim, $10K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Amherst isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Amherst County.

Disasters that hit Amherst

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Amherst itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Amherst.

Brought FEMA money into AmherstDeclared for Amherst County only

2012

Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds

$3K to the Town of Amherst for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$79K to the Town of Amherst for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

3 households applied for aid $614 aid approved

Amherst County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

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. Amherst 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 Amherst’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Amherst. 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.