164 flood insurance claims·$5.0M paid·5 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 Danville 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.
River flooding and localized flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominate the flood risk profile in Danville city, where NOAA records document 42 flood events, 19 flash flood events resulting in two deaths, and 3 tropical storm events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include a slow-moving storm on August 2, 2024, that produced three to four inches of rain within a two-hour period, as well as an influx of deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that caused flooding on January 9, 2024.
NFIP claims data further illustrate this risk across different zones. Zone A properties experienced 97 claims with an average payout of $46,745 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone X recorded 28 claims with an average payout of $31,891 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Additionally, Zone X_SHADED recorded 12 claims with an average payout of $12,146 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED logged 12 claims averaging $17,777 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches, and unknown zones registered 15 claims averaging $1,538 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners in Zone A and shaded or unshaded Zone X areas should pay the closest attention to these flood risks given their documented claims and water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
20% of Danville city’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
121 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 6 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 2018, with 72 claims and $3.4M paid, the year of Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Michael.
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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Danville city describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Post-tropical Cyclone Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Michael | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
64 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 42 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Aug 5, 2022 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 21, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Aug 21, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Nov 12, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A deep, negatively tilted upper level trough and associated occluded front passed from the central Mississippi River Valley on January 9th toward the lower New England region by the morning of the 10th. Strong southerly wind flow ahead of the upper trough carried deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico northward into the Carolinas and the lower Mid-Atlantic. Precipitable water values ranged from 1.1 inches across…
Flash Flood · Aug 2, 2024. Numerous showers and some storms developed within an unstable and moist airmass in advance of an approaching front. A few of these storms increased to severe levels and produced damaging wind gusts. One slow-moving storm developed across the eastern side of the City of Danville and produced three to locally four inches of rain during a two-hour period between 3:20 pm and 5:20 PM EDT. Rainfall rates during the st…
Flood · Aug 5, 2022. An upper level disturbance crossed the region during the peak heating of the day. The timing of these two events helped yield a generous coverage of showers and storms across the area, with a couple of storms becoming severe. Those that became severe produced damaging wind gusts. Lightning was also known to have struck a house and also a chimney.
Tropical Storm · Oct 29, 2020. Winds associated with Tropical Storm Zeta caused damage and power outages in southwestern Virginia, concentrated close to border with North Carolina. Wind gusts reached 30-40 knots during the peak of the storm. Numerous trees were blown down by Tropical Storm Zeta, with many falling on homes, power lines, and blocking roadways. A thunderstorm closely following Zeta contributed to some of the wind damage.
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 Danville 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.