Wythe County, Virginia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Wythe County, Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 48.7 out of 100, higher than about 48% of US counties, with cold waves, landslides and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Wythe 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 has no tornado on record touching Wythe County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Virginia All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 28,279 Buildings worth $6.1 billion Area 469 sq mi Risk rank in Virginia 38 of 133 FIPS 51197
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 88.7 | $4.8 million | about 4.4 a year | 84 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 84.4 | $20,785 | about 1.1 a year | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 70.5 | $750,353 | about 2.5 a year | 97 |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 66.3 | $315,678 | about 3 a year | 105 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 61.0 | $364,356 | about once every 538 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 58.6 | $134,285 | about once every 43 years | 0 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 50.3 | $5.1 million | about 1.6 a year | 44 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 48.5 | $365 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 37.2 | $109,994 | about 45 a year | 60,211 strikes |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 34.8 | $27,749 | about 11 a year | 217 |
| Hail | Very Low | 28.7 | $85,004 | about 3.7 a year | 142 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 26.8 | $19,574 | about once every 2.0 years | 34 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 21.3 | $6,283 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Tornado | Very Low | 14.8 | $105,894 | about once every 15 years | 0 |
| 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 16
Most common: Severe Storm 4, Hurricane 3, Snowstorm 3, Tropical Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood, Drought |
| 1990s | 4 | Snowstorm ×3, Flood |
| 2000s | 4 | Severe Storm ×3, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 2 | Hurricane ×2 |
| 2020s | 4 | Tropical Storm ×2, Winter Storm, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Wythe 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 0
No tornado in NOAA's Storm Prediction Center record touched Wythe County between 1950 and 2025. That does not mean one cannot happen.
How Wythe County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wythe County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 48.7 | Cold wave |
| Bland County | 25 km | Very Low | 13.0 | Landslide |
| Galax City | 31 km | Very Low | 6.8 | Cold wave |
| Grayson County | 32 km | Very Low | 24.7 | Landslide |
| Pulaski County | 36 km | Relatively Low | 45.9 | Landslide |
| Carroll County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 45.1 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Virginia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 74.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 41.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.37 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $12 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 Wythe County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Virginia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Strong wind: 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 Wythe County
What natural disasters is Wythe County, Virginia most at risk from?
Wythe County, Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 48.7 out of 100, higher than about 48% of US counties, with cold waves, landslides and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Wythe County had?
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Wythe 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 Wythe County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Wythe County from 1950 to 2025.
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.