Updated May 2026
Flood Risk in Buchanan, VA
Buchanan, VA has a Flood Risk Score of 20/100 (Grade A), ranking #173 of 3,277 counties nationwide. The risk level is Low. There have been 14 NFIP flood-insurance claims totaling $339,330 in payouts, with 9 federal disaster declarations on record.
Key Data
What the Grade Means Here
Buchanan sits in the lowest-risk tier in the FEMA dataset — composite score 20, ranked #173 of 3,277 counties (where #1 is the riskiest). The county has logged 14 NFIP flood-insurance claims and 9 federal flood-related disaster declarations to date. An A grade does not mean zero risk: flash floods, sewer backups, and rare extreme storms can still cause loss, and FEMA reports more than 25% of all NFIP payouts originate from properties outside Special Flood Hazard Areas.
Within Virginia, Buchanan runs 8 points above the state average composite score of 12 — meaningfully more flood-exposed than the typical county in the state. Rank: #2 of 135. The full Virginia state profile shows how every county within the state compares.
What's Driving the Risk Score?
The single biggest driver of the composite score in this county is year-over-year trend (15% of the formula, factor score 100). For Buchanan, that means the year-over-year trend in flood losses is contributing meaningfully — this is a county where loss has been climbing in recent years, not just historically high.
The trend factor is high (100 of 100), meaning flood losses have been accelerating sharply in this county. That is the single most actionable signal in the score — recent risk is meaningfully greater than the long-run average suggests.
Score Breakdown
| Factor | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Claims Density | 0 | 40% |
| Disaster Frequency | 19 | 25% |
| Claim Severity | 0 | 20% |
| Year-over-Year Trend | 100 | 15% |
How This Score Is Calculated
The composite is a weighted average of four FEMA-derived factors. Source data comes from the public FEMA flood-mapping program via the OpenFEMA API. For property-level decisions, layer this with the parcel's FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map zone and recent crest readings from USGS Water Data. Full math: methodology page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the flood risk in Buchanan, VA?
Buchanan, VA has a Flood Risk Score of 20/100 (Grade A), ranking #173 of 3,277 counties nationwide. The risk level is Low. There have been 14 NFIP flood-insurance claims totaling $339,330 in payouts, with 9 federal disaster declarations on record.
Is flood insurance required in Buchanan?
Federal law requires flood insurance for any property in a Special Flood Hazard Area (FEMA Zone A or V) financed by a federally regulated lender. Buchanan's county-wide composite score is 20 (Grade A), which is a county aggregate — your specific parcel's flood-zone designation comes from the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) at fema.gov/flood-maps. Even when not legally required, NFIP coverage is often available for a few hundred dollars a year in moderate- and low-risk zones, and FEMA reports more than 25% of all NFIP claims come from outside high-risk zones.
What is driving the flood risk score in Buchanan?
The single biggest driver of the composite score in this county is year-over-year trend (15% of the formula, factor score 100). For Buchanan, that means the year-over-year trend in flood losses is contributing meaningfully — this is a county where loss has been climbing in recent years, not just historically high.
Is flood risk increasing or decreasing in Buchanan?
The trend factor is high (100 of 100), meaning flood losses have been accelerating sharply in this county. That is the single most actionable signal in the score — recent risk is meaningfully greater than the long-run average suggests.
How does Buchanan compare to other counties in Virginia?
Within Virginia, Buchanan runs 8 points above the state average composite score of 12 — meaningfully more flood-exposed than the typical county in the state. Rank: #2 of 135.
Where does this data come from?
Every figure on this page comes from FEMA's public OpenFEMA API — the DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 endpoint (federally declared flood-related disasters) and the FimaNfipClaims endpoint (individual NFIP flood-insurance claims aggregated by county FIPS code). Both are public-domain U.S. government work. Real-time stream-gauge readings that complement these federal aggregates live at USGS Water Data. Last updated 2026-05-16.
Buchanan, VA has a Flood Risk Score of 20/100 (Grade A), ranking #173 of 3,277 counties nationwide. The risk level is Low. There have been 14 NFIP flood-insurance claims totaling $339,330 in payouts, with 9 federal disaster declarations on record.
The data source behind this answer is FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. Every figure on the page traces back to that source; the methodology page describes the inputs and the refresh cadence in full detail.
A practical caveat: the headline answer above reflects the most recent FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims vintage; underlying data is often revised for months after first publication, and the right reference for any specific decision is whichever vintage is current at the time of the decision. The as-of date is stamped on every page.