9 flood insurance claims·$256,136 paid·6 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 Appomattox 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 flooding from heavy rainfall and severe weather systems dominates the flood character of Appomattox County. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 34 flash flood events, 13 general flood events, and 2 tropical storm events. Recent historical impacts include a significant flash flood in February 2025 driven by deep moisture pooling along a warm front, and multiple flash flood events in August 2024 associated with the northward movement of the remnants of Hurricane Debbie, which brought strong winds gusting to 45 mph and heavy rainfall over saturated soils.
Property owners located within FEMA-designated Zone A should pay the closest attention to these flood risks. Within Zone A, the National Flood Insurance Program has recorded 9 claims with an average payout of $28,460 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Residents in these mapped hazard areas face distinct risks from localized flash flooding and rising waters during major storm systems.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 5 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 3 claims and $67,656 paid, the year of 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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Appomattox County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Feb 10, 2025 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 2, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Tropical Storm Michael | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
49 since 1996: 34 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 30, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jul 15, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 11, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2021 | $1,500 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash 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…
Flash Flood · Sep 30, 2024. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms associated with the remnant moisture of Tropical Storm Helene passed across the region, producing localized heavy rainfall across soils that were already moist from previous rainfall. Rainfall rates in several of the storms that developed ranged from between three and five inches per hour and, in a few cases, were higher. Creeks that were already high from recent rainfa…
Flash Flood · Aug 8, 2024. The remnants of Hurricane Debbie moved north toward the area on August 8th, 2024. A strong southeast flow of wind on the system's northern extent, along with wet soils due to heavy rainfall, helped to cause downed trees and power lines over portions of Virginia. Winds gusted to at least 40 to 45 mph over parts of the region. The strong winds continued into the morning hours of August 9th, 2024. The highest totals…
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2023. A trough of low pressure was situated from Buckingham County, VA southeast through Alleghany County, NC during the evening of the 15th, while a cold front was advancing eastward across the mountains. A wave of low pressure passing along the front over western North Carolina served to increase low level winds into the 20 kt-25 kt range from the south, tapping into deep moisture. By 8 pm EDT, precipitable water v…
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 Appomattox 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.