FEMA flood zones · Virginia

Amelia County, Virginia Flood Zone Map

7 flood insurance claims·$123,035 paid·6 federal flood & hurricane disasters

10% of Amelia County’s area is in FEMA’s high-risk flood zones.

Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.

Coastal high risk (V, VE)FloodwayHigh risk (A, AE)Moderate (X, 500-year)Minimal (X)Undetermined (D)

Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Amelia 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.

How deep the water got

outlet80″ door12″24″36″48″60″72″84″

In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 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.

Flood claims, year by year

The worst year was 2018, with 2 claims and $65,697 paid, the year of Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Michael.

1996: 1 claims1998: 1 claims2003: 2 claims2015: 1 claims2018: 2 claims1980199020002010

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.

In their words

5 NOAA storm reports from Amelia County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →

Federal disasters

22 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.

DisasterBegan
Severe Winter StormJan 22, 2026
Severe Winter Storms And FloodingFeb 10, 2025
Severe Winter Storm And SnowstormJan 2, 2022
Severe Winter StormsFeb 11, 2021
Tropical Storm MichaelOct 9, 2018
Hurricane FlorenceSep 13, 2018
Hurricane SandyOct 26, 2012
Severe Storms And Straight-line WindsJun 29, 2012

Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.

Recorded flood events

14 since 1996: 9 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.

EventDateDamage
Flash FloodMay 14, 2025—
Flash FloodJul 9, 2025—
Flash FloodSep 30, 2024—
Flash FloodAug 28, 2023—
FloodSep 17, 2020—
FloodMay 18, 2018—
FloodSep 17, 2018—
FloodOct 11, 2018—

— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

From the storm reports

Flash Flood · May 14, 2025. A broad trough was in place across the eastern CONUS, resulting in isolated afternoon and evening storms with locally heavy rainfall.

Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2025. A short wave trough aloft approached the Mid-Atlantic from the west on July 9. Strong thunderstorms formed during the afternoon and evening with gusty winds and heavy rainfall.

Flash Flood · Sep 30, 2024. Scattered thunderstorms just north of a frontal boundary produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding across portions of central Virginia.

Flash Flood · Aug 28, 2023. Scattered thunderstorms near a frontal boundary produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding across portions of south central and southeast Virginia.

National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

The zones you’ll see on the map

Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.

Cross-section of a river floodplainDiagram: a river valley. The floodway is the channel and the land beside it; the 1%-annual-chance flood surface (the base flood elevation) covers the valley floor as zone A or AE; a narrow band higher up is shaded X, the 0.2% floodplain; higher ground is X.0.2% CHANCE A YEAR (500-YEAR)BASE FLOOD ELEVATION · 1% A YEARXAEFloodwayAEX
  1. A / AE Inside the 1%-a-year floodplain: about a 26% chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage. AE has a mapped base flood elevation; plain A does not.
  2. Floodway The channel and the land beside it that has to be kept clear enough to carry the flood. Building here is tightly limited.
  3. X shaded The 0.2% (500-year) floodplain, plus some levee-protected and very shallow flood areas.
  4. X Outside both lines. No federal requirement to insure, which is not the same as no risk.

Every flood zone code explained →

Flood insurance in Amelia County

If a building in Amelia 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.