The risk to you depends upon various factors. Is the approaching hurricane going to be a Catagory I, II, III, IV or V storm? Where will the hurricane make landfall before it reaches your location? What will the height of the tied be at the time the hurricane makes landfall? Where is your business or residence located in respective to the approaching storm? Most important, it depends upon how prepared you are! See the Hurricane Safety & Survivability Brochure to learn how to prepare for hurricanes. This brochure was prepared by the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission with the assistance of the local city and county governments.
Do you live in an area that has been designated at risk to flooding or storm surge? Lessons learned from previous hurricanes and nor'easters have demonstrated that there are many areas in Hampton Roads that are at risk to flooding and are not specifically designated by FEMA to be in the flood plain. We urge you to obtain flood insurance on your residence, business and personal property or structural contents! It is your responsibility to be prepared. Plan what you are going to do before a hurricane strikes the region. When a hurricane is forecasted to impact Hampton Roads, you will not have much time to protect yourself and your family.
The following image represents a more typical situation, where a hurricane makes landfall South of Hampton Roads coming from the South or Southwest. Over the last 50 years, this has been the more typical scenario (e. g. Hurricane Bonnie and Floyd). The seriousness of this type of storm will depend greatly upon the Category of Hurricane at landfall, the forward speed of the storm, and whether tide is high or low at the time the hurricane enters Hampton Roads. Hurricane Bonnie (a wind event) and Hurricane Floyd (a flood event) were both serious enough to cause significant property damage, utility outage, flooding of primary roads and highways, deaths and injuries and require Federal Disaster Declarations. However, both storms were no stronger than a minimal Category I hurricane, when they impacted Hampton Roads. A more intense or faster moving hurricane would devastate many areas of Hampton Roads.
