5,774 flood insurance claims·$71.9M paid·9 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 Hampton 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 from severe weather events dominates the flood history of Hampton city, accounting for 31 out of 54 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside general floods, coastal floods, and tropical storms.
Recent impacts are documented in NOAA storm records, such as slow-moving storms producing heavy rain and widespread flash flooding over two rounds on July 14 and July 15, as well as heavy showers from a lingering surface low on September 27. Additionally, a coastal low combined with high pressure to produce prolonged moderate to major coastal flooding on October 12.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with the vast majority concentrated in Zone A, which accumulated 5,166 claims with an average payout of $15,667 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Properties in Zone A should pay the most attention to flood risk, followed by properties in Zone X, Zone X_SHADED, Zone X_UNSHADED, and Zone V, which also recorded insurance claims with varying average payouts and average water depths ranging from 5 to 11 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Hampton city’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
5,508 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 2003, with 2,310 claims and $32.1M paid, the year of Hurricane Isabel.
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.
18 NOAA storm reports from Hampton city describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 9 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.
54 since 1996: 31 flash floods, 9 river or area floods and 9 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 17, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | $60,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2025. A moist and unstable airmass was in place on September 27. Meanwhile, a surface low lingered across south central Virginia along the North Carolina border with a stationary front extending east along the state border. This low slowly moved east-northeast through the afternoon on September 27. This allowed for rounds of heavy showers and storms to move across central and southeast Virginia beginning during the morn…
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 · Aug 18, 2025. Moisture and instability pooled along a nearly stationary frontal boundary across southeast Virginia on August 18. Slow-moving showers and storms trained over the lower Virginia Peninsula region, with flash flooding occurring in the late afternoon and evenings hours.
Flash Flood · Mar 17, 2025. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a slow-moving cold front on March 16 across southeast Virginia. These showers and storms trained over the same areas into early on March 17, allowing for heavy rain and instances of flash flooding across portions of southeast Virginia on March 16 and 17.
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 Hampton 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.