70 flood insurance claims·$2.4M paid·7 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 Surry 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 from slow-moving summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Surry County, based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration storm event data from the last 30 years recording 31 flash flood events, alongside 10 coastal flood events, 5 general flood events, 3 tropical storms, and 3 hurricanes.
This hazard is exemplified by an event in July 2025, when a moist and unstable air mass brought two rounds of slow-moving storms on July 14 and July 15 that dropped widespread rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches, producing heavy rain and widespread flash flooding across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in both high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk zones face financial exposure. Zone A leads with 51 claims averaging $33,909 with an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded 16 claims with an average payout of $65,052 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $63,438 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. An additional 1 claim in an unknown zone averaged $3,609 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Property owners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention given the claim volumes and payout histories.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Surry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
53 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 8 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 35 claims and $1.5M 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Surry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 7 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 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Ida And A Nor'east | Nov 11, 2009 |
| Tropical Depression Ernesto, Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 29, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Hurricane Isabel | Sep 18, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
52 since 1996: 31 flash floods, 5 river or area floods and 10 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Oct 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2025 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 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 · 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.
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2025. A moist and unstable air mass was in place from July 14 through July 15. This allowed for widespread, slow-moving storms to move across portions of central, southern, and southeastern Virginia. These storms produced heavy rain and widespread flash flooding in two rounds. One round was from overnight convection on the night of July 14 into the morning of July 15 and the other round was during the afternoon of July…
Flash Flood · May 14, 2025. A broad trough was in place across the eastern CONUS, resulting in isolated afternoon and evening storms with locally heavy rainfall.
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 Surry 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.