Natural hazards · Sussex

Sussex, VA natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sussex?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sussex to be higher than in 16% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding34%Drought28%Hurricanes18%Everything else21%

By hazard

What Sussex faces

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

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

28% of expected damage

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Sussex flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sussex County.

Disasters that hit Sussex

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SussexDeclared for Sussex County only

Sussex County has had 14 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. Sussex 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 Sussex’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Sussex. 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.