Photo: Truejim (Uploads) · CC BY-SA 3.0Less hazard damage per building is expected in Cascades than in 86% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cascades gets an A for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns, #99 of 253 in Virginia. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (81%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Cascades faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
What’s behind Cascades’ grade
River and rain flooding is 81% of the building damage FEMA expects in Cascades, and Cascades’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 64% of U.S. census tracts. Next is hurricanes at 6% (higher than 66% of U.S. census tracts).
A #99 of 253 in Virginia; lower expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Cascades’ residents live in 4 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical Virginia town has lower expected damage than 81% of U.S. towns; within the state, Cascades has less expected damage per building than 61% of Virginia towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.0M a year in losses across Cascades: $1.6M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Cascades flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cascades. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cascades isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Loudoun County.The storms Cascades remembers
None of the 12 disasters declared for Loudoun County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cascades itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Loudoun County has had 12 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often winter storms, then hurricanes and tropical storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Cascades and its neighbors
Cascades is 4th of the 6 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dulles Town Center | A+less damage than 98% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Sterling | A+less damage than 96% | river and rain flooding | 3 |
| Sugarland Run | Aless damage than 93% | river and rain flooding | 6 |
| Cascades | Aless damage than 86% | river and rain flooding | 0 |
| Lowes Island | B+less damage than 73% | river and rain flooding | 2 |
| Countryside | B+less damage than 69% | river and rain flooding | 1 |
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Cascades faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Cascades
Is Cascades at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cascades has lower expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns: A for hazard risk, #99 of 253 in Virginia. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (81%) and hurricanes (6%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Cascades in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Loudoun County, 91% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.0% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Cascades?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cascades’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Cascades at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (81%), and Cascades’ rate for it is lower than 64% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cascades.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cascades’ residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.