Natural hazards · Melfa

Melfa, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Melfa comes from hurricanes, 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 Melfa?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Melfa to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes61%Inland flooding19%Coastal flooding8%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Melfa faces

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

Hurricanes

61% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Coastal flooding

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Melfa flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Accomack County.

Disasters that hit Melfa

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MelfaDeclared for Accomack County only

2006

Tropical Depression Ernesto, Severe Storms and Flooding

$2K to the Town of Melfa for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

10 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Accomack County has had 15 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. Melfa 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 Melfa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Melfa. 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.