16 FEMA areas

Hurricane Risk by City in Virginia

Compare 16 cities using FEMA's relative hurricane scores and annualized frequency for the county-equivalent areas shown.

Highest relative score

94.8/100

City of Chesapeake

Covered cities: Chesapeake

Lowest relative score in this set

67.9/100

City of Fredericksburg

Covered cities: Fredericksburg

These are relative FEMA scores for county-equivalent areas. They are not annual probabilities or property-level findings.

Virginia hurricane rankings

Cities sharing a FEMA area are grouped together and receive the same score.

Rank	FEMA area and cities	Rating	Score	Annualized frequency
#1	City of Chesapeake Chesapeake	Relatively Moderate	94.8/100	0.245 per year
#2	City of Norfolk Norfolk	Relatively Moderate	94.7/100	0.270 per year
#3	City of Newport News Newport News	Relatively Moderate	94.1/100	0.389 per year
#4	City of Virginia Beach Virginia Beach	Relatively Moderate	92.0/100	0.275 per year
#5	City of Hampton Hampton	Relatively Moderate	91.9/100	0.337 per year
#6	City of Suffolk Suffolk	Relatively Moderate	89.8/100	0.261 per year
#7	City of Portsmouth Portsmouth	Relatively Moderate	89.5/100	0.318 per year
#8	Arlington County Arlington	Relatively Moderate	87.3/100	0.098 per year
#9	City of Alexandria Alexandria	Relatively Low	85.4/100	0.097 per year
#10	City of Richmond Richmond	Relatively Low	83.4/100	0.098 per year
#11	City of Williamsburg Williamsburg	Relatively Low	78.4/100	0.228 per year
#12	City of Roanoke Roanoke	Relatively Low	71.0/100	0.053 per year
#13	City of Lynchburg Lynchburg	Relatively Low	70.8/100	0.061 per year
#14	City of Charlottesville Charlottesville	Relatively Low	69.6/100	0.070 per year
#15	City of Winchester Winchester	Relatively Low	69.0/100	0.054 per year
#16	City of Fredericksburg Fredericksburg	Relatively Low	67.9/100	0.082 per year

Occurrence thresholds vary by hazard. The FEMA methodology defines the value for each hazard.

Preparing for hurricane

Ready.gov Be Informed ↗

For a home or move

✓Confirm the exact hazard using official local maps before making property or insurance decisions.
✓Review policy exclusions, deductibles, and temporary-living coverage with a licensed professional.
✓Keep inspections, inventories, and critical documents in a secure location you can access after an emergency.

For a household plan

✓Know how local officials issue warnings and evacuation instructions.
✓Maintain water, food, lighting, medications, and communications for several days.
✓Create a household communication plan and practice it before an emergency.

Questions about hurricane risk in Virginia

Which covered Virginia cities have the highest relative hurricane risk?

Chesapeake use FEMA data for the City of Chesapeake, which has the highest relative hurricane score in this covered set at 94.8/100. Cities sharing the same FEMA area share the same score.

Which covered Virginia area has the lowest relative hurricane score?

City of Fredericksburg has the lowest score in this covered set at 67.9/100. This is a relative FEMA comparison, not a declaration that every property there is safe.

Are these hurricane figures city-level?

No. The city links provide geographic navigation, while the scores and frequencies cover the FEMA county-equivalent areas shown in the table. Address-level conditions require local maps and property details.

Is the FEMA relative score an annual probability?

No. The relative score compares FEMA areas on a 0–100 scale. Annualized frequency appears separately with hazard-specific units.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.19.0, released March 2023. Hazard data covers FEMA county-equivalent areas.

FEMA source ↗Our methodology →