Natural hazards · Lake Arrowhead

Lake Arrowhead, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lake Arrowhead comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2018.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lake Arrowhead?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lake Arrowhead to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding68%Strong wind7%Heat waves6%Hurricanes5%Tornadoes5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Lake Arrowhead faces

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

Inland flooding

68% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Lake Arrowhead flood?

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

3paid claims since 2018

$14Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20182026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Michael: 1 claim, $10K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stafford County.

Disasters that hit Lake Arrowhead

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Stafford County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Lake Arrowhead itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Lake ArrowheadDeclared for Stafford County only

Stafford County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

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. Lake Arrowhead covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Lake Arrowhead’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Lake Arrowhead. 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 Lake Arrowhead total about $1.5M 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.