4 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 Martinsville 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 driven by severe summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk in the City of Martinsville, accounting for the majority of recorded events alongside general floods and tropical storms over the past thirty years.
Recent occurrences illustrate these weather patterns. A significant flood event occurred on January 9, 2024, driven by a strong southerly wind flow ahead of an upper-level trough that carried deep moisture northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Later that year, on September 24, 2024, an intense thunderstorm passed across the city amid a highly moist airmass produced by stationary and warm fronts, resulting in flash flooding. Additional flash flooding occurred on June 19, 2023, driven by a stacked low over the Ohio Valley that pulled a warm front through the region, and on August 21, 2020, when high tropical moisture combined with light mean winds to produce slow-moving, highly efficient rainfall.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties vulnerable to intense convective storms and sudden, localized heavy rainfall.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11 NOAA storm reports from Martinsville city describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| 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 |
| Hurricane Fran And Associated Severe Storm Cond | Sep 5, 1996 |
| Blizzard Of 96 (severe Snow Storm) | Jan 6, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
24 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 24, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 22, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 18, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 18, 2018 | $800,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 24, 2024. A warm front was situated across central Virginia and North Carolina, while a stationary front was positioned across Kentucky and West Virginia, which kept a highly moist airmass over the region. Lift across the warm front and increasing instability via diurnal heating through the day resulted in an increase in coverage and intensity of storms. Some of the storms were severe producing damaging winds and large hail…
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 · Jun 19, 2023. A stacked low over the Ohio Valley pulled a warm front through the Southside Region of Virginia in the afternoon. The upper level support from upper level disturbances rotating around the low allowed storms to develop and grow in intensity as surface-based CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy) values increased into the 1,000 to 1,500 J/Kg range. There were scattered areas of wind damage from thunderstorm wi…
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 Martinsville 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.