148 flood insurance claims·$2.5M paid·3 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 Henry 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.
Flash flooding driven by heavy rainfall and severe weather dominates the flood history of Henry County, Virginia. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 63 flash flood events resulting in 2 deaths, alongside 14 general flood events and 2 tropical storm events.
Weather systems can rapidly deliver heavy moisture to the region, as demonstrated on January 9, 2024, when a deep upper-level trough and associated occluded front carried deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into the Mid-Atlantic, producing multiple recorded flood and flash flood events.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in FEMA Zone A, which has accumulated the highest impact with 70 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims averaging $28,475 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Properties in shaded Zone X areas, which recorded 36 claims averaging $19,808 with an average water depth of 5 inches, also warrant careful review. Additional claims exist across unshaded Zone X, standard Zone X, and unknown zones, where average payouts range from $8,665 to $9,044 with average water depths between 2 and 8 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
42% of Henry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
120 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 1987, with 37 claims and $648,837 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.
41 NOAA storm reports from Henry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 23, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Record/near Record Snowfall, Heavy Rain,floodind, And Mudslide | Feb 15, 2003 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Jan 25, 2000 |
| Hurricane Fran And Associated Severe Storm Cond | Sep 5, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
79 since 1996: 63 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | $25,000 |
| Flood | May 24, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2020 | $1.2M |
— = 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 · 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…
Flood · Jul 1, 2021. Despite prolonged periods of dry weather before the event, deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico pooled across the lower Mid-Atlantic ahead of an approaching cold front. Precipitable water values by the afternoon of July 1st were estimated to have reached the 1.8 to 2 inch range. Strong afternoon heating, combined with steepened lapse rates associated with a passing upper level disturbance, produced a highly uns…
Flash Flood · Oct 29, 2020. Tropical Storm Zeta passed quickly across the lower mid-Atlantic region on the morning of the 29th, but still brought 2-3 inches of rainfall to the foothills of the Blue Ridge and the Piedmont region. Much of this rain fell within a 1-2 hour period, resulting in rapid flooding of several small streams. Residual moisture in the wake of Zeta allowed for redevelopment of bands of slow-moving storms producing additi…
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 Henry 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.