Natural hazards · Fairfield

Fairfield, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fairfield comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high 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 Fairfield?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fairfield to be higher than in 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Lightning7%Cold waves6%Hurricanes5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Fairfield faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 17 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDroughtAvalanches

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 Fairfield flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rockbridge County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Fairfield

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FairfieldDeclared for Rockbridge County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

5 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

Rockbridge 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. Fairfield 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 Fairfield’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fairfield. 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.