Natural hazards · Vansant

Vansant, VA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Vansant comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Vansant?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Vansant to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding83%Cold waves10%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Vansant faces

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

Inland flooding

83% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

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 Vansant flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Buchanan County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Vansant

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into VansantDeclared for Buchanan County only

2004

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

13 households applied for aid $17K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms and Flooding

22 households applied for aid $59K aid approved

2003

Severe Winter Storm, Record/Near Record Snowfall, Heavy Rain,floodind, and Mudslide

91 households applied for aid $153K aid approved

Buchanan County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. Vansant 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 Vansant’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Vansant. 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.