States › Virginia › Powhatan County

Powhatan County, Virginia

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 51145 · 31,136 residents (2021) · 260 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 29Tornado · 4Flood · 21Wind · 119Winter · 89

Powhatan County within Virginia. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 296 storm events in Powhatan County, Virginia, led by damaging wind.

That is 113.8 events per 100 square miles, below the Virginia figure of 146.4, and 95.1 per 10,000 residents against 66.9 statewide.

14 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 0 deaths and 0 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $4.7M and crop damage at $6.5M.

FEMA has designated the county in 24 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (emergency, 23 Jan 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 1 claim since 1978, of which 1 were paid, totalling $5K (about $5K per paid claim). FEMA counts 41 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($9.6M a year across 18 hazards).

48 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

14events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

296events since 19500 deaths, 0 injuries recorded

24disaster declarationslast 23 Jan 2026

1NFIP flood claims$5K paid

Compared with Virginia and the United States

Measure	Powhatan County	Virginia	US
Recorded events since 1950	296	57,789	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	113.8	146.4	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	95.1	66.9	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	14	1,941	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	0	239	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$4.7M	$2.7B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.0	5.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$5K	$19K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	0.0	4.3	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Wind: 1

Wind: 2

Hail: 3Tornado: 1Wind: 4

Hail: 8Flood: 1Wind: 16Winter: 8Heat: 1Drought: 3Other: 3

Hail: 5Flood: 9Wind: 23Winter: 35Tropical: 1Cold: 1Other: 4

Hail: 12Tornado: 2Flood: 3Wind: 40Winter: 35Heat: 2Cold: 2Lightning: 1Other: 7

Hail: 1Tornado: 1Flood: 8Wind: 33Winter: 11Heat: 1Other: 8

11950s01960s21970s81980s401990s782000s1042010s632020s

Recorded events in Powhatan County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 190 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 96 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind119

Winter89

Hail29

Other22

Flood21

Tornado4

Heat4

Cold3

Drought3

Tropical1

Lightning1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	119	—	0.5%	detail
■ Winter	89	—	0.9%	detail
■ Hail	29	—	0.5%	detail
■ Other	22	—	0.8%
■ Flood	21	—	0.3%	detail
■ Tornado	4	—	0.4%
■ Heat	4	—	0.3%
■ Cold	3	—	0.2%
■ Drought	3	—	0.4%
■ Tropical	1	—	0.3%
■ Lightning	1	—	0.2%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
18 Sep 2003	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$4.0M	$359K	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Sep 1997	Drought	Drought	—	—	$3.1M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Oct 1998	Drought	Drought	—	—	$2.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Nov 1998	Drought	Drought	—	—	$1.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Jun 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$105K	—	—	—	County
5 May 2017	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	$100K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
23 Jan 2026	EM-3631	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
4 Apr 2025	DR-4863	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
11 Mar 2022	DR-4644	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
10 May 2021	DR-4602	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Public assistance
2 Apr 2020	DR-4512	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3448	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
18 Dec 2018	DR-4411	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Michael	Public assistance
11 Sep 2018	EM-3403	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Florence	Public assistance
29 Oct 2012	EM-3359	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
27 Jul 2012	DR-4072	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
3 Sep 2011	DR-4024	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
12 Sep 2005	EM-3240	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
18 Sep 2003	DR-1491	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isabel	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Feb 2000	DR-1318	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Public assistance
6 Sep 1996	DR-1135	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Fran And Associated Severe Storm Cond	Public assistance
13 Jan 1996	DR-1086	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96 (Severe Snow Storm)	Public assistance
10 Mar 1994	DR-1014	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Ice Storms, Flooding	Public assistance
25 Mar 1993	EM-3112	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
9 Nov 1985	DR-755	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Public assistance
23 Jul 1977	EM-3046	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
15 Oct 1976	EM-3018	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
10 Oct 1972	DR-359	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Jun 1972	DR-339	Major disaster	Flood	Tropical Storm Agnes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Aug 1969	DR-274	Major disaster	Hurricane	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Powhatan County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781

Paid claims1

Total paid$5K

Average paid claim$5K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force410.4% of 11,480 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2014	1	1	$4,867	$4,867

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 21.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$9.6MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very Low	$4,438,835
Drought	Relatively High	$2,434,273
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$1,184,479
Tornado	Very Low	$500,767
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$306,650
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$287,185
Heat wave	Very Low	$206,900
Lightning	Relatively Low	$132,253
Hail	Very Low	$54,601
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$52,095
Winter weather	Very Low	$27,721
Cold wave	Very Low	$9,226
Wildfire	Very Low	$5,509
Landslide	Very Low	$232

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles48

Tracks within 50 miles8

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Ophelia	2023	89 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	59 mi	52 mph
Isaias	2020	62 mi	69 mph
Zeta	2020	23 mi	52 mph
Nestor	2019	77 mi	46 mph
Michael	2018	73 mi	58 mph
Andrea	2013	94 mi	46 mph
Hanna	2008	69 mi	52 mph
Ernesto	2006	59 mi	46 mph
Gaston	2004	76 mi	40 mph
Isabel	2003	60 mi	75 mph
Bertha	1996	77 mi	69 mph
Fran	1996	84 mi	46 mph
David	1979	87 mi	46 mph
Alma	1970	88 mi	40 mph
Brenda	1960	86 mi	58 mph
Cindy	1959	95 mi	46 mph
Connie	1955	94 mi	69 mph
Diane	1955	52 mi	58 mph
Able	1952	53 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	74 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	61 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	33 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	64 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1943	97 mi	52 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Powhatan County, VA?

NCEI records 29 hail events in Powhatan County since 1950, in 16 different years; that is about 0.4 recorded events a year. 11 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Powhatan County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 4 tornadoes in Powhatan County since 1950, 0 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Powhatan County?

23 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 24 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Powhatan County, and how much was paid?

1 NFIP claim since 1978, 1 of them paid, for $5K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Powhatan County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Powhatan County compare with the rest of Virginia?

113.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 146.4 statewide, and 0.0 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 5.9. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.