Wise County, Virginia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Wise County, Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 50.4 out of 100, higher than about 50% of US counties, with landslides, wildfires and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $13 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 17 federal disaster declarations that included Wise County since 1977, 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 3 tornadoes touching Wise County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Virginia All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 36,104 Buildings worth $5.8 billion Area 410 sq mi Risk rank in Virginia 36 of 133 FIPS 51195
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 | 88.5 | $38,010 | about 1.3 a year | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 84.3 | $525,139 | about once every 87 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 75.5 | $2.2 million | about 2.2 a year | 42 |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | 69.0 | $3,198 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 66.3 | $9.1 million | about once every 1.1 years | 25 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 65.5 | $88,608 | about 15 a year | 285 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 57.8 | $328,585 | about once every 602 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 54.6 | $504,568 | about 3.9 a year | 150 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 48.7 | $51,723 | about once every 61 years | 2 |
| Drought | Very Low | 30.6 | $21,811 | about 8 a year | 287 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 21.6 | $216,243 | about once every 16 years | 2 |
| Lightning | Very Low | 19.6 | $54,066 | about 51 a year | 83,795 strikes |
| Hail | Very Low | 19.3 | $55,191 | about 3.1 a year | 116 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 12.2 | $5,477 | about once every 7.5 years | 10 |
| Heat wave | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| 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 17
Most common: Severe Storm 6, Snowstorm 4, Hurricane 3, Tropical Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 3 | Snowstorm ×3 |
| 2000s | 6 | Severe Storm ×5, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 3 | Hurricane ×2, Snowstorm |
| 2020s | 4 | Tropical Storm ×2, Winter Storm, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Wise 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 3
| Tornadoes touching the county | 3 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×1 |
| Peak month | March (1) |
| Deadliest | 5 Apr 1957, F1, 0.1 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Longest path | 8 May 2009, EF2, 1.7 mi path |
| Most recent | 8 May 2009, EF2, 1.7 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 5 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
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 Wise County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 50.4 | Landslide |
| Norton City | 5 km | Very Low | 1.6 | Landslide |
| Letcher County, KY | 26 km | Relatively Low | 66.6 | Landslide |
| Scott County | 29 km | Very Low | 42.0 | Landslide |
| Dickenson County | 29 km | Very Low | 17.9 | Landslide |
| Russell County | 47 km | Very Low | 36.5 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Virginia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 62.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 6.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.30 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $13 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 Wise 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
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- 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 Wise County
What natural disasters is Wise County, Virginia most at risk from?
Wise County, Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 50.4 out of 100, higher than about 50% of US counties, with landslides, wildfires and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $13 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Wise County had?
OpenFEMA lists 17 federal disaster declarations that included Wise County since 1977, 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 Wise County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 3 tornadoes touching Wise County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 5 Apr 1957, F1, 0.1 mi path, 0 killed, 3 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.