Natural hazards · Free Union

Free Union, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Free Union comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Free Union?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Free Union to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding79%Hurricanes5%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Free Union faces

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

Inland flooding

79% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce 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 Free Union flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Albemarle County.

Disasters that hit Free Union

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Free UnionDeclared for Albemarle County only

2011

Earthquake

2 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2003

Hurricane Isabel

1 household applied for aid

Albemarle County has had 23 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. Free Union 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 Free Union’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Free Union. 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.