Natural hazards · Big Island

Big Island, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Island comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Island?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Island to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding82%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Big Island faces

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

Inland flooding

82% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Big Island flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bedford County.

Disasters that hit Big Island

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Big IslandDeclared for Bedford County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

5 households applied for aid

Bedford County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe 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. Big Island 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 Big Island’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Big Island. 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.