Tornado Risk in Nottoway County, VA
Nottoway County's tornado history, by the numbers
14 tornado tracks have crossed Nottoway County since 1966 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 5.4 years - the Low band on this site's scale. That is the 38th percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Within Virginia alone, Nottoway County ranks 19 of 133 counties for tornado frequency.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Nottoway County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 14 recorded tracks, 10 were weak (EF0-1) and 4 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Virginia does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a Nottoway County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
15,632 people live in Nottoway County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Virginia than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What Nottoway County's figure does not tell you
Nottoway County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Nottoway County covers about 314 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Nottoway County has about 15,632 residents.