Natural hazards · Selma

Selma, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Selma 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 Selma?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Selma to be higher than in 79% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Strong wind15%Cold waves10%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Selma faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Selma flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Alleghany County.

Disasters that hit Selma

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SelmaDeclared for Alleghany County only

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