Boykins’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Boykins comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Boykins’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Boykins flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Boykins. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Boykins isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Southampton County.How exposed is Boykins?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.
Rated higher than 609 of the 700 Virginia towns we cover.
Boykins is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Boykins faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Drought
3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Boykins
Disasters that paid out in Boykins itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Boykins) and its biggest flood years.
- 2011Hurricane Irene$21K to the Town of Boykins for repairs
- 2003Hurricane Isabel55 households applied for aid$43K aid approved
- 1999Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations$8K to the Town of Boykins for repairs
Southampton County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.
Old photos of Boykins after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Boykins archive →Get ready for what Boykins actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in August–October
The month each of Southampton County’s 11 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Boykins’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Boykins.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Boykins.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.