Lee County, Virginia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Lee County, Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 57.3 out of 100, higher than about 57% of US counties, with landslides, wildfires and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $11 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Lee County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3631-VA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 23 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 8 tornadoes touching Lee County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Virginia All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 22,166 Buildings worth $4.1 billion Area 442 sq mi Risk rank in Virginia 27 of 133 FIPS 51105
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 94.1 | $60,702 | about 1.5 a year | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 80.6 | $252,129 | about once every 186 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 72.8 | $8.6 million | about once every 1.8 years | 16 |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | 71.2 | $3,392 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 63.1 | $937,402 | about 1.4 a year | 27 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 62.9 | $58,567 | about 12 a year | 229 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 60.4 | $270,598 | about once every 373 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 57.8 | $142,748 | about 12 a year | 364 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 57.4 | $396,125 | about 4.7 a year | 178 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 48.4 | $143,704 | about 2.9 a year | 109 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 45.6 | $117,054 | about 53 a year | 66,721 strikes |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 41.3 | $19,183 | about once every 111 years | 2 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 34.9 | $393,064 | about once every 11 years | 9 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 23.5 | $12,616 | about once every 7.5 years | 10 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 4.3 | $2,575 | about once every 19 years | 1 |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 18
Most common: Severe Storm 6, Snowstorm 4, Hurricane 3, Flood 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Flood ×2, Drought |
| 1990s | 3 | Snowstorm ×3 |
| 2000s | 6 | Severe Storm ×5, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 3 | Hurricane ×2, Snowstorm |
| 2020s | 3 | Winter Storm, Severe Storm, Tropical Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Lee County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3631-VA): 133 Virginia counties designated.
- Hurricane Florence (2018, EM-3403-VA): 133 Virginia counties designated.
- Hurricane Sandy (2012, EM-3359-VA): 133 Virginia counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Tropical Storm Helene (2024), Hurricane Florence (2018), Hurricane Sandy (2012), Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Virginia also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 8
| Tornadoes touching the county | 8 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×5 |
| Peak month | May (4) |
| Deadliest | 2 Mar 2012, EF1, 2.5 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 4 Apr 1974, F0, 8.6 mi path |
| Most recent | 16 May 2023, EF1, 0.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 1 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Lee County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 57.3 | Landslide |
| Harlan County, KY | 19 km | Relatively Low | 65.7 | Landslide |
| Hancock County, TN | 22 km | Very Low | 11.9 | Landslide |
| Hawkins County, TN | 34 km | Relatively Low | 55.8 | Landslide |
| Scott County | 47 km | Very Low | 42.0 | Landslide |
| Bell County, KY | 49 km | Relatively Low | 68.0 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Virginia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 90.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 1.6 |
| Community risk factor | 1.78 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $11 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Lee County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Virginia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Lee County
What natural disasters is Lee County, Virginia most at risk from?
Lee County, Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 57.3 out of 100, higher than about 57% of US counties, with landslides, wildfires and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $11 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Lee County had?
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Lee County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3631-VA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 23 January 2026). Another 3 Virginia declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Lee County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 8 tornadoes touching Lee County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 2 Mar 2012, EF1, 2.5 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.