31 flood insurance claims·$386,823 paid·2 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 Wythe 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 and standard flooding driven by deep moisture feeds and tropical systems shape the flood risk in Wythe County, Virginia. According to the NOAA Storm Events Database over the last 30 years, the county experienced 43 flash flood events and 24 general flood events, resulting in one death. Recent severe weather includes major flooding events in February 2025 caused by moisture pooled along a warm front, and significant flash flooding and flooding from Hurricane Helene in September 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage occurs in both high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk zones. Zone A policies recorded 15 claims with an average payout of $24,519 and an average recorded water depth of 23 inches. Zone X properties also experience losses, with 12 claims in standard Zone X averaging $9,672 and an average water depth of 4 inches, 3 claims in unshaded Zone X averaging $9,062 and an average water depth of 1 inch, and 1 claim in shaded Zone X resulting in a $26,793 average payout and an average water depth of 32 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within designated Zone A flood areas, as well as structures in Zone X zones that have historically recorded significant indoor water depths during extreme weather events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 16 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 2024, with 10 claims and $176,010 paid, the year of Tropical Storm Helene and Post-tropical Cyclone Helene.
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.
31 NOAA storm reports from Wythe County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1976, 2 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 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Record/near Record Snowfall, Heavy Rain,floodind, And Mudslide | Feb 15, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
67 since 1996: 43 flash floods and 24 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 21, 2020 | $16,500 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2020 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Apr 13, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 13, 2020 | $160,500 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A deep upper level trough was observed exiting the southern Rockies during the morning of February 15th, with southwesterly windflow ahead of the trough allowing for a fetch of deep moisture from the western Gulf of America. This moisture pooled along a warm front situated across from Kentucky into southwest Virginia, where precipitable water values increased from 0.6 to 0.7 inches at 7 am that morning, to around…
Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A deep upper level trough was observed exiting the southern Rockies during the morning of February 15th, with southwesterly windflow ahead of the trough allowing for a fetch of deep moisture from the western Gulf of America. This moisture pooled along a warm front situated across from Kentucky into southwest Virginia, where precipitable water values increased from 0.6 to 0.7 inches at 7 am that morning, to around…
Flood · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a powerful Category 4 hurricane late Thursday, September 26, and moved quickly northward into the southeastern states, and then turned slightly northwestward towards the southern Appalachian Mountains overnight into Friday morning, weakening as it moved over land. Helene���s intensity and fast forward motion led to impacts being felt well inland, from the Florida…
Flash Flood · Sep 26, 2024. An upper level low was situated in the vicinity of western Tennessee, while a strong upper ridge was positioned over the southeast coast, which helped to steer Hurricane Helene into the Florida Big Bend during the evening of September 26. Ahead of Helene, the Predecessor Rainfall Event (PRE) that developed on the 25th continued to intensify as upper level areas of low pressure rotating around the upper low continu…
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 Wythe 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.