Natural hazards · Palmyra

Palmyra, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Palmyra comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Palmyra?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Palmyra to be higher than in 42% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding48%Earthquakes17%Drought12%Hurricanes8%Strong wind5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Palmyra faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Earthquakes

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Palmyra flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Fluvanna County.

Disasters that hit Palmyra

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PalmyraDeclared for Fluvanna County only

2011

Earthquake

489 households applied for aid $512K aid approved

2003

Hurricane Isabel

23 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

Fluvanna County has had 21 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. Palmyra 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 Palmyra’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Palmyra. 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.