Natural hazards · Atkins

Atkins, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Atkins comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Atkins?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Atkins to be higher than in 20% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves45%Inland flooding37%Drought8%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Atkins faces

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

Cold waves

45% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHeat wavesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Atkins flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Smyth County.

Disasters that hit Atkins

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AtkinsDeclared for Smyth County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

129 households applied for aid $490K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $15K aid approved

Smyth County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. Atkins 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 Atkins’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Atkins. 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.