Natural hazards · Madison Heights

Madison Heights, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Madison Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Madison Heights?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Madison Heights to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding56%Strong wind12%Earthquakes8%Hurricanes7%Tornadoes6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Madison Heights faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce 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 Madison Heights flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Madison Heights.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Amherst County.

Disasters that hit Madison Heights

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Madison HeightsDeclared for Amherst County only

2003

Hurricane Isabel

2 households applied for aid

Amherst County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter storms.

Around Madison Heights

Madison Heights and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lynchburgmostly inland floodingVery low

Madison Heightsmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Madison Heights covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Madison Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Madison Heights. 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 Madison Heights total about $1.2M 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.