Natural hazards · Penhook

Penhook, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Penhook comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Penhook?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Penhook to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding85%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Penhook faces

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

Inland flooding

85% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Penhook flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Franklin County.

Disasters that hit Penhook

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PenhookDeclared for Franklin County only

Franklin County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Penhook

Penhook and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

North Shoremostly inland floodingHigh

Penhookmostly inland floodingHigh

Union Hallmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Penhook 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 Penhook’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Penhook. 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.