Montgomery County, VA Environment & Hazard Risk

• LandslideRelatively Moderate$69.55K/yr expected annual loss, about 1.0 events a year
• EarthquakeRelatively Low$1.1M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 706 years
• Cold waveRelatively Moderate$2.28M/yr expected annual loss, about 3.9 events a year
• Winter weatherRelatively Moderate$137K/yr expected annual loss, about 11 events a year
• LightningRelatively Moderate$348K/yr expected annual loss, about 44 events a year
• AvalancheVery Low$1,322/yr expected annual loss, about once every 100 years
• HurricaneVery Low$165K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 41 years
• DroughtRelatively Low$247K/yr expected annual loss, about 2.4 events a year
• HailRelatively Low$220K/yr expected annual loss, about 4.0 events a year
• Strong windRelatively Low$457K/yr expected annual loss, about 2.8 events a year
• WildfireVery Low$23.63K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 1,009 years
• Ice stormVery Low$28.16K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 2 years
• TornadoVery Low$363K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 18 years
• Heat waveVery Low$13/yr expected annual loss, about once every 46,414 years

Bars show the national percentile score (0 to 100) for each hazard. Dollar figures are expected annual losses to buildings, people and crops. Not rated here: coastal flooding, riverine flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Check the flood zone for an address

Homes with flood insurance

148 of 28,449 (0.5%)

Homes in high-risk flood zones

619

Insured in high-risk zones

93 (15%)

Flood claims since 1978

181

Claims paid since 1978

$3.23M

• Thunderstorm Wind204 · 1 death
• Hail158
• Flash Flood71
• High Wind45
• Winter Storm36
• Flood35 · 1 death
• Heavy Snow24
• Drought17
• Heavy Rain16
• Ice Storm14

• Flood02/22/2003

  Montgomery

  1 death, 1 injured, $6,000 damage

  What happened

  Heavy rain over a long period of time caused small stream and urban flooding. A man who had been rescued once from the North Fork of the Roanoke River, returned to his truck with his father, and attempted to recover items from the truck. They remained trapped in the flood waters for several hours. The son died later that night in the hospital from hypothermia. Small stream and urban flooding was also reported across Botetourt, Pulaski, Patrick, Smyth, Rockbridge, Tazewell, Campbell, Franklin, Alleghany, Craig, Bland, Floyd, Amherst, and Roanoke counties. One man was killed when he tried to cross a low water bridge over Tinker Creek in Vinton. He was swept about 200 feet downstream and died. In addition nearly 3 million dollars in damage was reported to homes and business due to the flooding in Roanoke County, including Salem and the city of Roanoke. In Wythe County, flood waters caused damage to several homes. Across all the counties listed above numerous roads were closed by slowly rising flood waters.Flash flooding early on the morning of the 22nd in Paint Bank washed out Peters Mountain Road.

• Thunderstorm Wind65 kt wind06/30/2012

  Mountain View, Montgomery County

  1 death, $1M damage

  What happened

  Thunderstorm winds blew thousands of trees and branches down across the county. There were numerous reports of power lines being taken down by the wind or by falling trees or branches. Structural damage occurred to numerous homes that had trees fall on them. Parked vehicles also suffered damage when trees fell on them. One indirect fatality occurred when the driver of a motorcycle crashed into a tree being removed from a road hours after the event. Damage values are estimated.

• Drought09/01/2007

  Montgomery

  $10M damage

  What happened

  Hay and pasture production was down fifty to sixty percent due to the drought resulting in a shortage of winter feed for livestock.

• Thunderstorm Wind50 kt wind08/30/2021

  Fagg, Montgomery County

  2 injured, $10K damage

  What happened

  Thunderstorm winds knocked a tree down on a vehicle near the intersection of Northfork Road and Seneca Hollow Road. Two people were transported to the hospital with unknown injury severity.

• Flash Flood09/29/2015

  Riner, Montgomery County

  $1M damage

  What happened

  There were numerous reports of roads flooded and some badly damaged across Montgomery County. The biggest impacts were in the western half of the county where 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in a 6-hour period between 0700 LST and 1300 LST. The asphalt on Laurel Mill Ridge road was reportedly washed away. Meadow Creek Road had at least one foot of water rushing over it. Duck Pond Road was closed from Oak Lane to Smithfield. Radford Road was closed, Route 8 in Riner was partially flooded and an earth retaining wall gave way. Toms Creek was flooding a portion of Mt. Zion Road near Brooksfield Road. Plantation was closed due to 6 to 12 inches of water over the road.

• Flash Flood10/11/2018

  Pilot, Montgomery County

  $632K damage

  What happened

  Montgomery County was included in a Presidential Major Disaster declaration due mainly to the severe flooding associated with Tropical Storm Michael. At least four roads were reported closed across the county including in the Ellett Valley area. At least six inches of moving water was reported over Toms Creek Road near Redbud Road and Toms Creek was out of its banks and flooding Meadowbrook Road in Blacksburg. Elsewhere in Montgomery County 13-year-old became trapped in an all-terrain vehicle in a flooded creek and the New River Valley swift-water rescue team helped to rescue the teenager.

• Thunderstorm Wind50 kt wind06/13/2026

  New Ellett, Montgomery County

  $500 damage

• Drought06/01/2026

  Montgomery

• Drought05/01/2026

  Montgomery

• Drought04/21/2026

  Montgomery

• Hail0.88" hail04/02/2026

  Merrimac, Montgomery County

• Winter Storm01/30/2026

  Montgomery

• Winter Storm01/24/2026

  Montgomery

• Flash Flood07/31/2025

  Walton, Montgomery County

  $5,000 damage

• Blacksburg, Town ofServes 34,578 · Purchased surface water · Local governmentNo health violations+2 monitoring or reporting
• Christiansburg Town ofServes 22,000 · Purchased surface water · Local governmentNo health violations+2 monitoring or reporting
• Prices Fork/MerrimacServes 4,541 · Purchased surface water · Local governmentNo health violations+2 monitoring or reporting
• Christiansburg Elliston WaterlineServes 3,626 · Purchased surface water · Local governmentNo health violations+1 monitoring or reporting
• Plum CreekServes 1,740 · Purchased surface water · Local governmentNo health violations+1 monitoring or reporting
• Radford Army Ammunition PlantServes 1,602 · Surface water · FederalNo health violations+6 monitoring or reporting
• Bethel AreaServes 1,247 · Purchased surface water · Local governmentNo health violations
• Riner CommunityServes 1,161 · Purchased surface water · Local governmentNo health violations