Natural hazards · Fort Chiswell

Fort Chiswell, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fort Chiswell comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fort Chiswell?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fort Chiswell to be higher than in 2% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves41%Inland flooding39%Strong wind7%Earthquakes5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Fort Chiswell faces

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

Cold waves

41% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 9% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHeat wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Fort Chiswell flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wythe County.

Disasters that hit Fort Chiswell

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Wythe County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fort Chiswell itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Fort ChiswellDeclared for Wythe County only

Wythe County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms 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. Fort Chiswell 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 Fort Chiswell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fort Chiswell. 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.