Natural hazards · Tangier

Tangier, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Tangier comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 90 claims here since 1985. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Tangier?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Tangier to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and coastal flooding.

Hurricanes42%Coastal flooding34%Inland flooding17%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Tangier faces

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

Hurricanes

42% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Coastal flooding

34% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

17% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 10% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

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 Tangier flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Tangier, from FEMA’s records.

90paid claims since 1985

$1.4Mpaid to owners

16homes flooded more than once

19852026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Ernesto: 21 claims, $304K
Hurricane Isabel: 21 claims, $302K
Hurricane Floyd: 12 claims, $168K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (2) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Tangier 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

35homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Tangier

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TangierDeclared for Accomack County only

2012

Hurricane Sandy

$23K to the Town of Tangier for repairs

2006

Tropical Depression Ernesto, Severe Storms and Flooding

$6K to the Town of Tangier for repairs

2003

Hurricane Isabel

92 households applied for aid $240K aid approved $145K to the Town of Tangier for repairs

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