Portsmouth, VA
Portsmouth County in Virginia has 11 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1972–2018, most recently Hurricane Florence on Sep 11, 2018 (DR-3403). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #3208 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 56 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $1,464,089 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Portsmouth County
The 11 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Portsmouth County, VA (1972–2018). Total declarations on record: 11.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2018 | Hurricane | Hurricane Florence | DR-3403 |
| Nov 2, 2016 | Hurricane | Hurricane Matthew | DR-4291 |
| Oct 29, 2012 | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy | DR-3359 |
| Sep 3, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-4024 |
| Aug 26, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-3329 |
| Sep 12, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | DR-3240 |
| Sep 18, 2003 | Hurricane | Hurricane Isabel | DR-1491 |
| Sep 18, 1999 | Hurricane | Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations | DR-1293 |
| Sep 16, 1999 | Hurricane | Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations | DR-3147 |
| Sep 4, 1998 | Hurricane | Hurricane Bonnie | DR-1242 |
| Jun 23, 1972 | Flood | Tropical Storm Agnes | DR-339 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 7 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in Virginia
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake | A | 7 | 45 | 11 |
| Norfolk | A | 7 | 96 | 11 |
| Virginia Beach | A | 7 | 292 | 11 |
| Prince William | A | 7 | 17 | 7 |
| Fairfax | A | 7 | 64 | 6 |
| Hampton | A | 9 | 55 | 14 |
More Counties in Virginia
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Portsmouth County, VA have?
Portsmouth County, VA has 11 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1972–2018). The 5 most recent are: Hurricane Florence (declared Sep 11, 2018, DR-3403); Hurricane Matthew (declared Nov 2, 2016, DR-4291); Hurricane Sandy (declared Oct 29, 2012, DR-3359); Hurricane Irene (declared Sep 3, 2011, DR-4024); Hurricane Irene (declared Aug 26, 2011, DR-3329). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Portsmouth County, VA?
Portsmouth County is graded A (composite score 7/100, low risk). It ranks #3208 of 3,277 U.S. counties for flood risk in our scoring model. The grade combines NFIP claims density (40%), disaster frequency (25%), claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%).
How many NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Portsmouth County?
56 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Portsmouth County, VA, totaling $1,464,089 in payouts. The average claim is $26,144. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Portsmouth County, VA had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Portsmouth County was Hurricane Florence on Sep 11, 2018 (DR-3403). The county has 11 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1972–2018.
The this entity record above pulls directly from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. flood risk, NFIP claims, and disaster declarations distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.
Every number on this page links back to FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.