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Risk & Response

Nelson County, VA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 69.9 Relatively High

14,732
Population
6
Departments
10
Stations
5
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.04
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
112th highest of 133
Life Safety per 100k
0.30
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
94th highest of 133
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$7.4M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
51st highest of 133
Property Loss per Resident
$503
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
7th highest of 133

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Nelson County, the largest single contributor is Strong Wind, 30% of the life-safety total.

Nelson County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $7.4M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 133 Virginia counties. Nationally, Nelson County ranks 3005th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 3003rd for life safety per 100k residents, 1830th for property loss, and 851st for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Nelson County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Nelson County.

Talk to us about Nelson County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

83%
10%
Property (buildings): $7.4M (83.4%)
Life safety: $602K (6.8%)
Agriculture: $868K (9.8%)

Total expected annual loss: $8,877,246 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Agriculture is 10% of expected annual loss in Nelson County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Strong Wind
$180K
Heat Wave
$93K
Lightning
$87K
Tornado
$65K
Hail
$46K
Inland Flooding
$38K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$6.6M
Hurricane
$311K
Earthquake
$151K
Tornado
$117K
Cold Wave
$54K
Strong Wind
$50K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Nelson County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

17%
83%
Combination: 17% (1)
Volunteer: 83% (5)
Residents per Station
1,473
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
67.9
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 6 departments registered in NERIS Public for Nelson County, VA. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Nelson County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 6 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Wintergreen Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 14,574 $800.9K Relatively High 4
Rockfish Valley Volunteer Fire Department 11,162 $618.4K Relatively High 2
Faber Volunteer Fire Department 11,786 $512.3K Relatively High 1
Gladstone Volunteer Fire Department 10,878 $411.9K Relatively Low 1
Nelson County Volunteer Fireman's Association/ Lovingston Volunteer Fire Department 9,545 $400.1K Relatively High 1
Montebello Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad 3,838 $179.7K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

12.5%
Poverty Rate
29.6%
Age 65+
14.3%
Disability Rate
7.1%
Uninsured
36.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
7.9%
Mobile Homes
36.3%
Vacancy Rate
12.5%
Wood Heat
$77,413
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

7
Last 10 Years
15
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo