213 flood insurance claims·$2.9M paid·8 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Alleghany County, Virginia. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash floods and general floods dominate the historical flood profile of Alleghany County, supported by dozens of documented flash flood and river flood events alongside tropical storm impacts over the last 30 years. Notable recent events include February 2023, when prolonged rainfall over a 24- to 25-hour period combined with saturated ground to produce localized minor river flooding. Additionally, severe weather events such as a July 2025 storm driven by a hot, humid air mass and orographical lift have produced damaging wind gusts and localized impacts.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas, with claims filed across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for the highest volume of claims with 100 filed, averaging $13,843 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded 57 claims with an average payout of $16,791 and an average water depth of 11 inches, and unknown zones recorded 40 claims averaging $20,922 with an average water depth of 4 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within designated high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A, as well as properties in moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas where significant average water depths and insurance claims demonstrate persistent flood vulnerability.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
14% of Alleghany County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
116 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 8 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1996, with 71 claims and $606,689 paid, the year of Flooding, High Winds, and Wind Driven Rain and Hurricane Fran and Associated Severe Storm Cond.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
23 NOAA storm reports from Alleghany County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Dec 18, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 23, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding From The Remanants Of Hurricane Jeanne | Sep 27, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
40 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 17, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Sep 27, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2025. A hot and humid air mass combined with orographical lift to produce a severe thunderstorm in Bath County of southwest Virginia. Damaging wind gusts from this storm blew down two trees west of Nimrod Hall.
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A deep upper level trough was observed exiting the southern Rockies during the morning of February 15th, with southwesterly windflow ahead of the trough allowing for a fetch of deep moisture from the western Gulf of America. This moisture pooled along a warm front situated across from Kentucky into southwest Virginia, where precipitable water values increased from 0.6 to 0.7 inches at 7 am that morning, to around…
Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A deep upper level trough was observed exiting the southern Rockies during the morning of February 15th, with southwesterly windflow ahead of the trough allowing for a fetch of deep moisture from the western Gulf of America. This moisture pooled along a warm front situated across from Kentucky into southwest Virginia, where precipitable water values increased from 0.6 to 0.7 inches at 7 am that morning, to around…
Flood · Feb 17, 2023. Prolonged rainfall over a 24- to 25-hour period ended around 8 AM EST on February 17th, which resulted in localized minor river flooding across portions of western Virginia. Unusual warmth during most of the river meant no frozen ground, snow cover or river ice in the area. However, MRMS CREST indicated that the ground was still 50 to 75 percent saturated from widespread rainfall during the 12th and 13th, just a f…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Alleghany County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.