Natural hazards · Grottoes

Grottoes, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Grottoes comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2003. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Grottoes?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Grottoes to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding75%Hurricanes6%Everything else19%

By hazard

What Grottoes faces

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

Inland flooding

75% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% 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 Grottoes flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Grottoes, from FEMA’s records.

3paid claims since 2003

$78Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20032026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Isabel: 2 claims, $69K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rockingham County.

Disasters that hit Grottoes

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into GrottoesDeclared for Rockingham County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

21 households applied for aid $17K aid approved

2000

Severe Winter Storms

$2K to the Town of Grottoes for repairs

Rockingham County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

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