33 flood insurance claims·$175,371 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 Fauquier 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.
Flooding driven primarily by standard floods and flash floods dominates Fauquier County, with NOAA records documenting 92 flood events and 54 flash flood events over the last 30 years. This risk is exemplified by slow-moving thunderstorms in July 2025 that developed on remnant boundaries and terrain circulations, producing localized rainfall amounts of two to five inches within an anomalously moist tropical airmass.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims have occurred across multiple zones, with properties in Zone X recording 16 claims averaging $8,664 with an average recorded water depth of 50 inches. Properties in Zone A recorded 11 claims with an average payout of $17,950 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, while properties with an unknown zone recorded 6 claims averaging $6,727 with an average recorded water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone X, which experienced the highest number of claims and the greatest average recorded water depths, as well as properties in Zone A where individual claim payouts averaged the highest amounts.
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 19 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 1979, with 3 claims and $9,691 paid.
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.
47 NOAA storm reports from Fauquier County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 2, 2022 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
146 since 1996: 54 flash floods and 92 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 14, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 18, 2025. An anomalously moist tropical airmass resided over Virginia bringing numerous rounds of showers and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms trained over portions of central Virginia bringing rainfall amounts of two to locally six inches. This resulted in instances of flooding and flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jul 18, 2025. An anomalously moist tropical airmass resided over Virginia bringing numerous rounds of showers and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms trained over portions of central Virginia bringing rainfall amounts of two to locally six inches. This resulted in instances of flooding and flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2025. An anomalously moist airmass with tropical moisture resided over much of Virginia on July 16th. This comes after several days of showers and thunderstorms, which left some areas with suppressed flash flood guidance. Slow moving thunderstorms developed on remnant boundaries and terrain circulations before propagating eastward. These storms produced localized rainfall amounts of two to five inches.
Flood · May 15, 2025. A slow moving closed upper level low originating from the Gulf of America brought anomalous moisture into the area bringing localized heavy rain and a long duration moderate rain event.
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 Fauquier 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.