106 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 Franklin 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.
28% of Franklin city’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
99 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 2006, with 75 claims and $4.0M 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.
2 NOAA storm reports from Franklin city describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1993, 5 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 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Hurricane Isabel | Sep 18, 2003 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Jan 25, 2000 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
14 since 1996: 5 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 23, 2023 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Nov 12, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Sep 21, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 8, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Oct 8, 2016 | $450,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 2, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Aug 27, 2011 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2011 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 23, 2023. Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall in Emerald Island, NC (in the southeast part of the state) at 6:20 AM on Saturday, 9/23 as a tropical storm with 70 mph winds. Ophelia gradually weakened (and lost tropical characteristics) as it tracked northward toward the Wakefield CWA during the day on Saturday. Ophelia tracked northward roughly along the I-95 corridor during the afternoon and evening hours on Saturday, rea…
Flood · Nov 12, 2020. Deep tropical moisture streaming northward into the Mid Atlantic region combined with the approach of a cold front and low pressure, produced heavy rain which caused flooding across portions of central and southeast Virginia.
Flood · Sep 21, 2016. The combination of a stalled frontal boundary and the remnant low pressure area that was Tropical Storm Julia, produced heavy rain which caused flooding across much of southeast Virginia from Wednesday morning, September 21st into early Thursday morning, September 22nd.
Flash Flood · Oct 8, 2016. The combination of a cold front moving through the Mid Atlantic and Post Tropical Cyclone Matthew tracking northeast just off the North Carolina and Virginia coasts, produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding across southeast Virginia from Saturday evening, October 8th into early Sunday morning, October 9th.
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 Franklin 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.