348 flood insurance claims·$2.7M paid·1 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 Wise 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 frequent heavy downpours and thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Wise County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 32 flash flood events, resulting in 1 death, alongside 14 general flood events. Recent activity includes flash flooding in February 2025 caused by a strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during a warm front passage and severe thunderstorms along a cold front, as well as isolated flash flooding in the Wise area in August 2025 from afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones. Zone A has received the highest volume with 228 claims, averaging an $8,380 payout and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone X experienced the highest severity among classified zones, with 19 claims averaging a $25,838 payout and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 30 claims averaging a $14,310 payout with an average water depth of 9 inches, while Zone X_SHADED saw 29 claims averaging an $11,636 payout with a 4-inch average water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within high-risk Zone A, as well as those in Zone X variations where significant water depths and payouts have historically occurred during heavy rainfall and flash flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
21% of Wise County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
287 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 5 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 2002, with 81 claims and $691,211 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding.
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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Wise County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Feb 10, 2025 |
| Post-tropical Cyclone Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Dec 18, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
46 since 1996: 32 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 18, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 28, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 28, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
Flash Flood · Aug 2, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms affected southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours of August 2nd. These produced some isolated flash flooding in southwest Virginia in the Wise area.
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Storm Helene caps off a several day heavy rainfall event in association with a stalled closed upper low with additional rain yielding catastrophic flash and river flooding, and significant wind damage as wet soils and strong wind gusts led to forest damage.
Flood · Jul 18, 2024. A humid airmass and a stationary front draped over the area contributed to localized flash flooding near Pound.
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 Wise 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.