Where the month happened
Each numbered area is one of the stories below, drawn over the counties its warnings covered.
- Flash flooding in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia, Aug 2–3
- Severe storms in the Mid-Atlantic, Aug 9–10
- Severe storms in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia, Aug 14–15
- Flash flooding in Virginia, Aug 4
The same areas as a list
- 1. Flash flooding in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, August 2 to 3 · Water · 15 counties drawn
- 2. Severe storms in the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley, August 9 to 10 · Storms · 138 counties drawn
- 3. Severe storms in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, August 14 to 15 · Storms · 57 counties drawn
- 4. Flash flooding in Virginia, August 4 · Water · 24 counties drawn
When it happened
- Fewer warnings
- More warnings
- Impact on people reported
View as a table
| Day | Warnings | Story on the map | Documented impact on people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1 | 4 | — | — |
| Aug 2 | 35 | 1 | Yes |
| Aug 3 | 28 | 1 | Yes |
| Aug 4 | 56 | 4 | Yes |
| Aug 5 | 13 | — | — |
| Aug 6 | 19 | — | — |
| Aug 7 | 53 | — | — |
| Aug 8 | 52 | — | — |
| Aug 9 | 31 | 2 | Yes |
| Aug 10 | 122 | 2 | Yes |
| Aug 11 | 115 | — | — |
| Aug 12 | 21 | — | — |
| Aug 13 | 20 | — | — |
| Aug 14 | 124 | 3 | Yes |
| Aug 15 | 49 | 3 | Yes |
| Aug 16 | 43 | — | — |
| Aug 17 | 117 | — | — |
| Aug 18 | 7 | — | — |
| Aug 19 | 1 | — | — |
| Aug 20 | 47 | — | — |
| Aug 21 | 12 | — | — |
| Aug 22 | 63 | — | — |
| Aug 23 | 58 | — | — |
| Aug 24 | 0 | — | — |
| Aug 25 | 0 | — | — |
| Aug 26 | 1 | — | — |
| Aug 27 | 28 | — | — |
| Aug 28 | 32 | — | — |
| Aug 29 | 2 | — | — |
| Aug 30 | 1 | — | — |
| Aug 31 | 3 | — | — |
1Flooding destroyed homes and cut off residents in Patrick County
AUG 1, 8 PM EDT
First warning
Stokes County, North Carolina
AUG 1, 11 PM EDT
Considerable threat
Stokes County, North Carolina
AUG 3, 3 AM EDT
Last warning
Tazewell County, Virginia
- Flash flooding — coloured as water. 15 counties in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia, Aug 2–3.
Across the Ararat River in Patrick County, a washed-out bridge stranded 12 people during the early-August flooding shown as 1 on the map. The Enterprise reported that officials checked that residents sheltering in place had generators, food and water.
The warning sequence began across the state line in Stokes County, North Carolina, at 8:35 p.m. on August 1. Later that night, the weather service escalated a flash flood warning there to a considerable damage threat. The Blacksburg weather service described the concern in an alert: “Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.”
In Patrick County, two homes were destroyed, WDBJ7 reported on August 8. Displaced residents stayed with relatives, so the county did not open an emergency shelter, according to The Enterprise. That newspaper also reported Emergency Management Director Scottie Cassell's finding that no deaths or injuries had been reported from the flooding.
Hollow Road, Rabbit Ridge Road and Kibler Valley Road remained closed early on August 3, The Enterprise reported. By August 8, WDBJ7 was reporting volunteers helping Kibler Valley Road residents whose properties were affected by bridge damage and debris from the Dan River. The work extended beyond clearing a route: residents needed help reaching and cleaning up their properties.
In Ararat, impassable bridges were still forcing residents onto detours in the Henry County Enterprise's August 12 account. “If you know the backroads, you can get out, but you have to go out of the way for most,” local resident Tom Perry told the newspaper. Access had become a daily inconvenience long after the flood warnings ended.
2Falling trees tore into homes as storms cut power across Virginia
AUG 8, 11 PM EDT
County order
Fauquier County, Virginia
AUG 10, 2 PM EDT
First warning
Frederick County, Virginia
AUG 10, 8 PM EDT
Last warning
Currituck County, North Carolina
- Severe storms — coloured as storms. 138 counties in the Mid-Atlantic, Aug 9–10.
In Afton during the August 10 storms, a maple fell through Meredith Ackroyd's house. “We had a big maple tree fall on and through our house,” she told Blue Ridge Life Magazine. Her account puts a household inside the broader storm footprint marked 2 on the map.
The weather warnings began in Frederick County at 2:40 p.m. on August 10. An earlier shelter-in-place order from Fauquier County concerned a law-enforcement investigation around Bowery Lane, not storm sheltering. It should not be read as an instruction issued because of the weather.
The Baltimore/Washington weather service warned: “Damaging winds will cause some trees and large branches to fall.” Across western and central Virginia that day, the squall line knocked out electricity to nearly 115,000 utility customers, Cardinal News reported. The warning described a possible consequence; the outage reporting documented the disruption that followed.
Along Skyline Drive, the National Park Service reported at 5:43 p.m. on August 10 that fallen trees had closed the road from Swift Run to Waynesboro, according to Cville Right Now. The publication also reported that Albemarle County first responders were dealing with fallen trees and disabled vehicles after the storms.
In Chesterfield County, WTVR CBS 6 reported on August 11 that trees had damaged several homes, including one on Winterpock Road where a tree tore away a section. Fallen trees and power lines closed Spring Run Road, while Winterpock Road near Springford Parkway remained closed as crews worked. No deaths or injuries were reported in the accounts reviewed for this storm episode.
3Storm damage closed Darden Towe Park and spread through Charlottesville neighborhoods
AUG 14, 3 PM EDT
First warning
Rockingham County, North Carolina
AUG 14, 11 PM EDT
Last warning
Prince George County, Virginia
- Severe storms — coloured as storms. 57 counties in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia, Aug 14–15.
At Darden Towe Park, the weekend after the August 14 storm brought a closure because of damaged ballfields and fallen trees, according to 29News. The park was part of the Charlottesville-area damage extending through nearby neighborhoods, within the storm footprint marked 3 on the map.
The warning sequence began that afternoon in Rockingham County, North Carolina. In Charlottesville, the University of Virginia issued an emergency alert at 5:36 p.m., directing people inside a building, onto the lowest possible floor and away from windows. A warning from the weather service in Wakefield stated: “Expect considerable tree damage.” Tornado warnings were also issued during the broader episode, but those warnings alone do not establish that a tornado touched down.
People and animals outdoors will be injured. Expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles. Expect considerable tree damage. Wind damage is also likely to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings.
From Greenbrier through Locust Grove and into Darden Towe Park, the weather service documented downed trees and power lines, trees falling onto structures and structural damage at a few locations. Its preliminary survey, published August 15, said further investigation would follow. No deaths or injuries were reported in the accounts reviewed, including that preliminary survey of the Charlottesville damage path.
Darden Towe Park reopened on August 17, with cleanup continuing, 29News reported. Albemarle County Parks and Recreation Deputy Director Jim Barbour told the station: “There is still work ongoing, so I want customers to be aware, you know, please stay clear of equipment, cautioned off areas”. Reopening did not mean every part of the park was ready for visitors.
In designated portions of Greenbrier and Locust Grove, Charlottesville began collecting storm-related branches and vegetation on August 17. The city's notice instructed eligible residents to put debris curbside by August 23. The recovery had moved from sheltering during the storm to clearing the material it left in neighborhoods.
4High water closed roads in Chesterfield, Prince George and Dinwiddie
AUG 3, 5 PM EDT
First warning
Cumberland County, Virginia
AUG 4, 1 PM EDT
Considerable threat
Chesapeake County, Virginia
AUG 5, 3 AM EDT
Last warning
Charles City, Virginia
- Flash flooding — coloured as water. 24 counties in Virginia, Aug 4.
At Amster Road and Starview Lane in North Chesterfield on August 4, high water closed the road, Chesterfield County Fire and EMS reported through WTVR CBS 6. That intersection anchors the road-flooding episode marked 4 on the map, with closures also documented farther south.
The warning sequence had begun in Cumberland County at 5:38 p.m. the previous day. The following afternoon, a flash flood warning in Chesapeake carried a considerable damage threat. That designation described the potential danger, not a documented damage total.
That evening, standing water closed Baxter Road's eastbound through lanes and right shoulder in Prince George County at 6:08 p.m. In Dinwiddie County, northbound lane closures near Browns Road were reported at 7:39 p.m. Both were Virginia Department of Transportation reports preserved in the Wakefield weather service's local storm reports.
On Darvills Road in Dinwiddie County, standing water caused further lane closures at 7:54 p.m., according to another transportation department report. At 8:44 p.m., the weather service replaced a flash flood warning with a flood warning for portions of Chesterfield, Henrico and Prince George counties. The replacement remained in effect into the following morning.
During the flooding, Chesterfield County Fire and EMS advised residents not to drive through water-covered roads, WTVR CBS 6 reported. The documented consequences were blocked routes and lane closures. No deaths or injuries were reported in the news accounts and official reports reviewed for this episode.
How BePrepared watches this, all year
This report exists because we already watch the whole country. Every couple of minutes, around the clock, we read the emergency alerts going out across all fifty states and territories, and we keep them. A month of that record is what you have just read.
The national picture is the part most people never see. What matters to you is much smaller: which of these warnings would have reached your street, and what the risks around you look like on an ordinary day.
That is what BePrepared is for. Put in your ZIP code and you get the picture for where you live — the flood, fire and storm history around you, the dams and facilities nearby, and a plan for your household rather than a general one. With a free account you can keep a watchlist of the places you care about, like your home, your parents' address, and your kids' school, and set what you want to hear about.
Where it hit hardest
Counted as distinct warnings, and as the days a county spent under one. A county is the smallest area these warnings describe.
Warnings by region
- Mid-Atlantic260
- Ohio Valley44
- Southeast17
Most days under a warning
- Washington County, VA11 days
- Chesterfield County, VA10 days
- Albemarle County, VA10 days
- Henrico County, VA10 days
- Sullivan County, TN10 days
- Powhatan County, VA9 days
- Goochland County, VA9 days
- Bristol County, VA9 days
Where the warnings landed
- Severe storms
- Flooding
- Tornadoes
- Everything else
Severe storms3,341 warnings · 251 counties
Flooding2,039 warnings · 216 counties
Tornadoes77 warnings · 34 counties
View as a table
| County | State | Warnings | Most frequent kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | VA | 97 | Severe storms |
| Scott | VA | 80 | Severe storms |
| Chesterfield | VA | 78 | Severe storms |
| Buchanan | VA | 76 | Everything else |
| Russell | VA | 66 | Severe storms |
| Patrick | VA | 65 | Everything else |
| Dickenson | VA | 64 | Everything else |
| Carroll | VA | 63 | Everything else |
| Alleghany | VA | 62 | Severe storms |
| Sullivan | TN | 59 | Severe storms |
| Bristol | VA | 59 | Everything else |
| Franklin | VA | 58 | Severe storms |
| Powhatan | VA | 58 | Severe storms |
| Pittsylvania | VA | 58 | Severe storms |
| Smyth | VA | 57 | Everything else |
| Monroe | WV | 56 | Severe storms |
| Henry | VA | 55 | Severe storms |
| McDowell | WV | 54 | Flooding |
| Albemarle | VA | 54 | Severe storms |
| Wise | VA | 52 | Severe storms |
The human record
What it cost, and who reported it
These figures are not ours. Our archive records that a warning was issued, never what happened next, so every number here comes from the organization named beside it and was retrieved on September 22, 2026.
Toll
Patrick County Emergency Management Director Scottie Cassell said no deaths or injuries were reported from the flooding.
Source: The Enterprise
Toll
2homes destroyed
WDBJ7 reported that two homes in Patrick County were destroyed.
Source: WDBJ7
Displaced
Displaced Patrick County residents stayed with relatives, so the county did not open an emergency shelter.
Source: The Enterprise
In their words
Local resident Tom Perry described detours around impassable bridges on Ararat side roads after the flooding.
“If you know the backroads, you can get out, but you have to go out of the way for most,”
Tom Perry, Local resident, to Henry County Enterprise Source: Henry County Enterprise
Damage
3bridges reported destroyed
the quoted official described 2 washed out and 1 moderately damaged
WDBJ7 reported three VDOT-managed bridges destroyed, although the same article quoted county board chair Andrew Overby describing two completely washed-out bridges and another with moderate damage.
Source: WDBJ7
In their words
Chesterfield resident Rick Roberts described the storm at his home off Summercreek Drive to WTVR.
“Quick. No warnings. It just came through and the wind was just blowing actually horizontal, the rain.”
Rick Roberts, Chesterfield County resident living off Summercreek Drive, to WTVR CBS 6 Source: WTVR CBS 6
In their words
Afton resident Meredith Ackroyd told Blue Ridge Life that a maple tree fell through her house during the August 10 storms.
“We had a big maple tree fall on and through our house.”
Meredith Ackroyd, Afton resident who submitted her account to the publication's Facebook page, to Blue Ridge Life Magazine Source: Blue Ridge Life Magazine
Damage
Fallen trees damaged several Chesterfield County homes, including a home on Winterpock Road from which a tree tore away a section.
Source: WTVR CBS 6
Damage
4,400cooperative members without power
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative reported significant infrastructure damage and 4,400 members without power at 9:40 p.m. on August 10.
Source: Cville Right Now
ArchiveOur records show severe storms warnings covering this area on August 10.
Closed
more than10,000people without power
The August 10 storm knocked out power for more than 10,000 people in Chesterfield County.
Source: WTVR CBS 6
ArchiveOur records show severe storms warnings covering this area on August 10.
Toll
0fatalities
0injuries
The National Weather Service's preliminary survey reported zero fatalities and zero injuries for the August 14 Charlottesville wind event extending from Greenbrier to Darden Towe Park.
Source: National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington, archived by Iowa Environmental Mesonet
Toll
0injuries
Albemarle County Fire Rescue reported no injuries in the East Keswick Drive fire.
Source: Albemarle County Fire Rescue
Displaced
2people displaced
The East Keswick Drive fire displaced the two residents, who were receiving assistance from family and friends.
Source: Albemarle County Fire Rescue
Rescue
2 people and 2 dogs evacuated
Albemarle County Fire Rescue reported that one adult, one juvenile and two dogs were safely evacuated from a burning home on East Keswick Drive on August 14.
Source: Albemarle County Fire Rescue
ArchiveOur records show severe storms warnings covering this area on August 14.
In their words
Albemarle County Parks and Recreation Deputy Director Jim Barbour told 29News that cleanup remained underway at Darden Towe Park and asked visitors to avoid equipment and restricted areas.
“There is still work ongoing, so I want customers to be aware, you know, please stay clear of equipment, cautioned off areas”
Jim Barbour, Albemarle County Parks and Recreation Deputy Director, to 29News (WVIR) Source: 29News (WVIR)
Closed
Chesterfield County Fire and EMS reported that high water closed Amster Road at Starview Lane in North Chesterfield on August 4, 2026.
Source: WTVR CBS 6
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on August 4.
Closed
At 6:08 p.m. on August 4, VDOT reported that standing water had closed the eastbound through lanes and right shoulder of Baxter Road in Prince George County.
Source: National Weather Service Wakefield, citing VDOT; archived by Iowa Environmental Mesonet
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on August 4.
Closed
At 7:39 p.m. on August 4, VDOT reported that standing water had closed northbound lanes of State Route 624 near Browns Road, Trinity Church Road and Route 611 in Dinwiddie County.
Source: National Weather Service Wakefield, citing VDOT; archived by Iowa Environmental Mesonet
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on August 4.
Closed
At 7:54 p.m. on August 4, VDOT reported lane closures on Darvills Road, State Route 40, in Dinwiddie County because of standing water.
Source: National Weather Service Wakefield, citing VDOT; archived by Iowa Environmental Mesonet
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on August 4.
Response
Chesterfield County Fire and EMS warned residents not to drive through water-covered roads during the August 4 flooding.
Source: WTVR CBS 6
ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on August 4.
For 4 of these stories, research looked for reported deaths and injuries and found none. As far as the record shows, no one was hurt.
The numbers behind this report
Every warning counted once, by type, place, day and hour, with the method below and the whole table downloadable at the end of the page.
What was warned about
| Alert type | Warnings | Messages |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Thunderstorm Warning | 493 | 493 |
| Special Weather Statement | 321 | 321 |
| Flash Flood Warning | 109 | 109 |
| Flood Advisory | 88 | 88 |
| Severe Thunderstorm Watch | 52 | 59 |
| Flood Watch | 47 | 56 |
| Tornado Warning | 21 | 21 |
| Flood Warning | 9 | 9 |
Where
| State | Warnings |
|---|---|
| VA | 874 |
| NC | 100 |
| TN | 72 |
| MD | 55 |
| DC | 34 |
| KY | 22 |
The busiest hour of the period was 7pm local time, with 149 warnings.
Counties reached most often
| County | State | Warnings |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | VA | 97 |
| Scott | VA | 80 |
| Chesterfield | VA | 78 |
| Buchanan | VA | 76 |
| Russell | VA | 66 |
| Patrick | VA | 65 |
| Dickenson | VA | 64 |
| Carroll | VA | 63 |
| Alleghany | VA | 62 |
| Sullivan | TN | 59 |
A county with no alerts is not a county with no risk. It can mean a quiet period, or a hazard that this feed does not carry.
When the warnings arrived
View as a table
| Local hour | Warnings | Of which most severe |
|---|---|---|
| 12am | 8 | 0 |
| 1am | 12 | 0 |
| 2am | 13 | 0 |
| 3am | 11 | 0 |
| 4am | 11 | 0 |
| 5am | 7 | 0 |
| 6am | 2 | 0 |
| 7am | 5 | 0 |
| 8am | 9 | 0 |
| 9am | 5 | 0 |
| 10am | 6 | 0 |
| 11am | 6 | 0 |
| 12pm | 15 | 0 |
| 1pm | 40 | 0 |
| 2pm | 94 | 5 |
| 3pm | 129 | 2 |
| 4pm | 120 | 0 |
| 5pm | 126 | 6 |
| 6pm | 146 | 3 |
| 7pm | 149 | 3 |
| 8pm | 101 | 2 |
| 9pm | 58 | 2 |
| 10pm | 52 | 2 |
| 11pm | 32 | 1 |
The feed repeats itself
View as a table
| Stage | Count |
|---|---|
| Messages received | 1,174 |
| Of which updates | 476 |
| Of which cancels | 0 |
| Distinct warnings | 1,157 |
| Counties reached | 266 |
How severe they were
- Minor
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extreme
View as a table
| Severity | Warnings |
|---|---|
| Minor | 89 |
| Moderate | 327 |
| Severe | 715 |
| Extreme | 26 |
What people were told to do
- Shelter
- Follow instructions
- Avoid
- Everything else
Where those instructions came from
- Shelter (514) — 152 corroborated as flood, 48 corroborated as tornado, 314 with no hazard stated in the alert text
- Evacuate (1), 1 with no hazard stated in the alert text
View as a table
| Response | Warnings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Shelter | 514 | 44.4% |
| Follow instructions | 325 | 28.1% |
| Avoid | 209 | 18.1% |
| Monitor | 59 | 5.1% |
| Prepare | 46 | 4.0% |
| Unstated | 2 | 0.2% |
| All clear | 1 | 0.1% |
| Evacuate | 1 | 0.1% |
What this report cannot tell you
- This report records the warnings that were sent: when, where, and what people were told to do. It cannot say whether anyone received them, whether they acted, or whether they had anywhere to go.
- Deaths, injuries, damage and acreage come from the news organizations and agencies named beside each figure. Our own records measure warnings, never outcomes, and are never the source for a toll.
- A county is the smallest area these alerts describe, so "a county was warned" does not mean every street in it was at risk.
- Where no figure has been reported, this report says so rather than estimating.
How these numbers were counted
Counted AUG 1, 2026 – SEP 1, 2026 · Frozen at publishThe alert figures in this report — how many warnings, where, when, and how severe — come from the alerts this archive received from FEMA IPAWS and the National Weather Service between August 1, 2026 and September 1, 2026, counted once and frozen when the report was published.
Deaths, damage and acreage are not ours and are never drawn from this archive. Each is attributed to the organization that reported it, above.
What was counted
- Only alerts covering at least one county in Virginia. An alert warning several states is counted in each of them, so state editions do not sum to the national total.
- cap_status = 'Actual' (tests, exercises and demos excluded)
- SAME test codes RWT/RMT/DMO/NPT/NAT excluded, and any event type containing "test"
- An event is the first message of a CAP identifier chain; updates and cancels are counted separately
- Alert time is cap_sent, falling back to ingest time when the feed omits it
- Counties come from the alert geocodes (SAME/FIPS); statewide codes are not counted as counties
What these numbers cannot tell you
- Lead time is the gap between when an alert was sent and when it takes effect. This archive collapses CAP onset into effective, so for many products those are the same instant by design — it is not a measure of forecast warning time.
- 1 alerts expire exactly 24 hours after they were sent because the feed omitted an expiry and the ingest substitutes a default. They are excluded from the duration distribution rather than charted as real forecasts.
- Evacuation and shelter figures are RESPONSE counts. They record what people were told to do, not what caused it; where the alert text does not name a hazard, the row is reported as unstated.
- Hour-of-day figures use each alert’s own local time, resolved from its state. Alerts spanning several states resolve to the first state in their geocodes.
- National Weather Service alerts began arriving in volume on 2026-06-12. Earlier months hold only the handful that reached this archive by other routes, so they undercount weather alerts badly and cannot be compared with later months.
- Population figures are not available for these counties, so alert counts are reported per county and never per resident.
This archive
Collection began 2026-03-27. National Weather Service alerts began arriving in volume on 2026-06-12 (a small number reached the archive by other routes from 2026-03-31). Months from 2026-07-01 onward can be compared with each other; earlier ones cannot.
For newsrooms and researchers
Use these figures
Journalists, emergency managers and researchers are welcome to reuse anything in this report, including the underlying counts, with attribution. Version 1 of these figures is frozen: if a correction changes them, it appears above as a dated note rather than silently replacing what you cited.
BePreparedSolutions.co. "Floods and falling trees damaged homes and closed roads across Virginia." Alert Pulse, September 22, 2026. https://bepreparedsolutions.co/reports/alert-pulse/va-2026-08
Source: BePrepared Solutions, Alert Pulse (2026). Alert counts from FEMA IPAWS and National Weather Service feeds; casualty and damage figures as attributed in the report.
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The embed updates itself if we publish a correction, so it never goes stale the way a screenshot does.
The CSV carries the same frozen figures as this page, keyed to version 1.