Natural hazards · Harrisonburg

Harrisonburg, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harrisonburg comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 25 claims here since 1982. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Harrisonburg?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harrisonburg to be higher than in 14% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding63%Strong wind9%Hurricanes7%Earthquakes7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Harrisonburg faces

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

Inland flooding

63% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Harrisonburg flood?

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

25paid claims since 1982

$538Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19822026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Fran: 3 claims, $4K
Hurricane Isabel: 1 claim, $23K
Hurricane Ida: 1 claim, $8K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: the county.

Disasters that hit Harrisonburg

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HarrisonburgDeclared for the county only

2012

Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds

$169K to the City of Harrisonburg for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

44 households applied for aid $55K aid approved $13K to the City of Harrisonburg for repairs

the county has had 12 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. Harrisonburg covers 11 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Harrisonburg’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Harrisonburg. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Harrisonburg total about $9.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.