Natural hazards · Chatham

Chatham, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chatham comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chatham?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chatham to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding68%Hurricanes7%Earthquakes6%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Chatham faces

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

Inland flooding

68% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Chatham flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pittsylvania County.

Disasters that hit Chatham

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChathamDeclared for Pittsylvania County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

1 household applied for aid $223 aid approved

2021

Severe Winter Storms

$225K to the Town of Chatham for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

4 households applied for aid

Pittsylvania County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

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