Disaster Data / States / Virginia / Galax (city)
Independent cityGalax (city) recorded 6 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 5 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 11 in all. Its most common hazard is hurricane.
Highlighted: Galax (city), VA
Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
The federal disaster record for Galax (city) runs between 2003 and 2026, covering 11 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, severe storm, and biological. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated $542,384 in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for roads and bridges.
Past 12 months
Galax (city) has been named in 1 federal declaration in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Galax (city) to date and grow as recovery continues. It falls in a complete fiscal year and is counted in the totals above.
| Declaration | Declared | Households approved | Individual Assistance | Public Assistance obligated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EM-3631-VAEmergency · Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026Incident period Jan 22 to 27, 2026 | None reported | None reported | None reported yet |
Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile, with the same figures for every place it covers.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 95.3% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.
Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation
The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation
$542K has been obligated to Galax (city) in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$542K followed major disasters other than COVID-19.
Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.
Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.
| Category | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Roads and bridges(C) | 3 | $369,577 |
| Utilities(F) | 2 | $79,090 |
| Emergency protective measures(B) | 3 | $39,760 |
| Debris removal(A) | 2 | $27,974 |
| Parks and recreation(G) | 1 | $25,983 |
| Management costs(Z) | 2 | $0 |
| All categories | 13 | $542,384 |
For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 7-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 154 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.
Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.
Archive coverage for Virginia: 2002-present
| Signed | Order | Declaration | Hazards reported here | Reported damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25, 2024 | EO-37 | Executive Order 37 (2024) Declaration of a State of Emergency Due to Hurricane Helen | Flood | Not reported |
| Oct 11, 2018 | EO-23 | Executive Order 23 (2018) Declaration Of A State Of Emergency For The Commonwealth Of Virginia Due To Hurricane Michael And In Support Of States Affected By The Storm | Flash Flood, Flood, Heavy Rain | $455,000 |
| Sep 10, 2018 | EO-17 | Executive Order 17 (2018) Declaration Of A State Of Emergency For The Commonwealth Of Virginia Due To Potential Impacts From Hurricane Florence | Flash Flood, Heavy Rain | $2,000,000 |
Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.
Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.
Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.
Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.
Showing 11 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2026 | EM-3631-VA | EM | Winter Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| Oct 1, 2024 | DR-4831-VA | DR | Tropical Storm | Tropical Storm Helene |
| Sep 29, 2024 | EM-3621-VA | EM | Tropical Storm | Post-Tropical Cyclone Helene |
| Apr 2, 2020 | DR-4512-VA | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3448-VA | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Dec 18, 2018 | DR-4411-VA | DR | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Michael |
| Oct 29, 2012 | EM-3359-VA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy |
| Feb 16, 2010 | DR-1874-VA | DR | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm |
| Jul 13, 2006 | DR-1655-VA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| Sep 12, 2005 | EM-3240-VA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| Dec 9, 2003 | DR-1502-VA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to Virginia's statewide total. Independent cities are counted separately from the counties around them, matching how FEMA designates them. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.
Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.