45 flood insurance claims·$1.1M 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 Patrick 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 storm events dominates the flood profile of Patrick County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 61 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 14 general flood events and 2 tropical storms. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including heavy rain and flooding associated with a cold front passage in December 2024, as well as significant moisture transport from a deep upper-level trough and occluded front system in January 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks and losses are concentrated in specific hazard areas. Zone A properties experienced the vast majority of claims with 39 filings, averaging a payout of $34,940 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. By comparison, unshaded Zone X recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $19,126 and an average water depth of 2 inches, while minimal claims occurred in unknown and standard Zone X locations. Homeholders, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, where historical claims frequency, payout amounts, and recorded water depths are substantially higher than in other zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Patrick County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
42 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 4 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 1985, with 19 claims and $475,215 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.
42 NOAA storm reports from Patrick County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1976, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Bull Mountain Fire | Apr 15, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
77 since 1996: 61 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 11, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 28, 2023 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 28, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Sep 21, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 11, 2024. A cold front crossed the region during the mid-morning hours of December 11, 2024. Behind this front, winds increased significantly from the west-northwest. Some of these winds were strong enough to cause damage in the form of downed trees and power lines. Portions on Henry, Carroll, and Pittsylvania Counties reported trees down. Two power lines came down in Carroll County. Heavy rain occurred during the early mo…
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 · Aug 28, 2023. A series of training thunderstorms produced extremely high rainfall across portions of Patrick and Carroll Counties during the predawn hours of August 28th. This resulted in areas of flash flooding, mainly in the headwaters of the Smith River and the Ararat River. ||The event began with a stationary front draped near the border of Virginia and North Carolina early on the 28th as an upper level disturbance began pa…
Flash Flood · Jun 20, 2023. A stacked upper level low pressure system drifted from the Ohio River Valley to eastern Kentucky during the early morning hours of the 20th. South-southeasterly windflow around the low was efficient in transporting deep moisture into the area from the coastal Carolinas, allowing precipitable water values to rise into the 1.5 to 1.7 inch range along the crest of the Blue Ridge in Virginia south of Roanoke. Winds we…
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 Patrick 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.