1,748 flood insurance claims·$19.8M paid·6 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 Portsmouth 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.
Portsmouth city experiences a flood risk profile dominated by flash flooding and coastal flooding, supported by 29 flash flood events and 25 coastal flood events recorded over the last 30 years. Additional hazards include tropical storms, general floods, hurricanes, and storm surge.
Recent events illustrate these varied conditions. A coastal low and high-pressure system brought widespread moderate to major coastal flooding to eastern Virginia on October 12, 2025. Earlier, on September 27, 2025, a slow-moving surface low and stationary front produced rounds of heavy showers and storms resulting in localized flash flooding. Tropical storm force gusts also impacted the area on August 21, 2025, due to the expansive wind field of Hurricane Erin.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data shows high concentrations of impact in specific zones. Zone A accounts for 1,301 claims with an average payout of $13,252 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Zone X accounts for a combined 442 claims across its unshaded, shaded, and general designations, with average payouts ranging from $13,598 to $25,299 and average recorded water depths of 2 to 5 inches. Zone V records 3 claims with an average payout of $18,713 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Property owners in Zone A face the highest frequency of claims and deepest average water depths, while residents in Zone X and Zone V must also account for significant historical claim payouts and coastal flood exposure.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Portsmouth city’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,506 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 9 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 2009, with 379 claims and $5.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Ida and A Nor'east.
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 Portsmouth city describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 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.
80 since 1996: 29 flash floods, 9 river or area floods and 26 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Oct 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 16, 2025 | $80,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 14, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 10, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Coastal Flood · Oct 28, 2025. Low pressure off the Mid-Atlantic coast combined with high pressure in Canada, resulting in a lengthy period of northeasterly onshore flow. Increasing tidal anomalies resulted in moderate to locally major tidal flooding over an extended period.
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.
Tropical Storm · Aug 21, 2025. The center of Hurricane Erin stayed several hundred miles east of the Middle Atlantic coast on August 21, 2025. However, due the extremely large size of the cyclone with an expansive wind field, tropical storm force gusts occurred over the Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay, and far eastern and southeastern Virginia.
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 Portsmouth 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.