2,634 flood insurance claims·$27.0M 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 Chesapeake city, 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 and coastal flooding dominate the flood history of Chesapeake, driven by a combination of heavy rainfall, coastal lows, and high tide cycles. Over the last 30 years, NOAA recorded 36 flash flood events, 12 coastal flood events, 10 general floods, 8 tropical storms, and 5 hurricanes. Recent impacts are illustrated by events such as September 2025, when low pressure brought heavy rainfall of 4 to 9 inches alongside higher-than-normal high tides that exacerbated freshwater flooding. Additionally, a coastal low in October 2025 produced prolonged northeast winds that drove moderate to major coastal flooding across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records show the heaviest concentration of claims in high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 2,264 claims with an average payout of $13,625 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Moderate- and lower-risk areas also experience impacts, including Zone X with 274 claims averaging $12,382 and an average water depth of 15 inches, Zone X_Shaded with 59 claims averaging $9,516 and a 5-inch average water depth, Zone X_Unshaded with 24 claims averaging $6,166 and a 3-inch average water depth, and Zone Unknown with 9 claims averaging $3,748 and a 2-inch average water depth.
Property owners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to flood risk, given the high volume of historical claims and significant average water depths recorded during past flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Chesapeake city’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
2,351 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 2009, with 602 claims and $9.2M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Ida and A Nor'east.
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.
16 NOAA storm reports from Chesapeake city describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Matthew | Oct 7, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Ida And A Nor'east | Nov 11, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Hurricane Isabel | Sep 18, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
71 since 1996: 36 flash floods, 10 river or area floods and 12 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Oct 28, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 16, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | $60,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Coastal Flood · Oct 28, 2025. Low pressure off the Mid-Atlantic coast combined with high pressure in Canada, resulting in a lengthy period of northeasterly onshore flow. Increasing tidal anomalies resulted in moderate to locally major tidal flooding over an extended period.
Coastal Flood · Aug 21, 2025. Hurricane Erin passed well offshore and combined with high pressure to the north, resulting in a period of strong onshore winds and coastal flooding across eastern Virginia and the Virginia Eastern Shore.
Flash Flood · Sep 16, 2025. An area of low pressure brought gusty winds and heavy rainfall to southeast Virginia and the Virginia Eastern Shore on September 16. Multiple bands of heavy rainfall rotated inland as the low approached the coast from the late morning into the evening hours, with widespread reports of flooding throughout the region during the day. Higher-than-normal high tide cycles also exacerbated impacts from freshwater floodin…
Coastal Flood · Sep 16, 2025. A coastal low lingered near the North Carolina and Virginia coastline on September 16, slowly moving northwest into the Chesapeake Bay by the evening of September 16. This low brought a prolonged period of elevated northerly winds across the Chesapeake Bay, resulting in widespread moderate to locally major coastal flooding across portions of eastern Virginia.
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 Chesapeake city 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.