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FloodWV

West Virginia Flood Hazard Profile

Hazard Data · Model Version 2.5

Overview

West Virginia's flood hazard is driven by terrain rather than coastline. Steep slopes and narrow valleys concentrate runoff quickly, so headwater streams rise faster than in flatter states and flash flooding is the dominant mode. Landslides and mudslides accompany flooding often enough that FEMA names them in the same declarations. OpenFEMA records 36 flood-related federal declarations for West Virginia between 1954 and 2026 — one of the highest counts of any interior state, in the state with the smallest emergency management budgets in the region.

In the Historical Record

35
federal disaster declarations (1954–2025)
FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations
27,391
NFIP flood insurance claims paid
FEMA OpenFEMA NfipClaims, 1978–2024

Counted from the records this platform holds. A figure is shown only where the underlying dataset could be read.

County by County in West Virginia

What federal records show has happened in each county: storms, disaster declarations and flood insurance claims. The counties below have the longest NOAA storm records in West Virginia.

All West Virginia counties

Notable Historical Events

1June 2016 statewide flooding — FEMA DR-4273, declared following the 22 June event
2July 2026 storms, tornadoes, flooding and landslides — FEMA DR-4932, the most recent declaration
3June 2025 storms, flooding and landslides — FEMA DR-4884

Hazard Scoring Approach

Calchis computes a Calchis Hazard Score (0–10) for flood hazard at any US address. The score is composed of weighted sub-components derived from federal data sources and published research. All score components are transparent and returned in API responses.

These are hazard scores — physical intensity likelihood only. They do not include property exposure or vulnerability data. We never call a hazard score a risk score. See the full methodology for scoring details.

Analyze Your Address

Enter any West Virginia address to see location-specific flood hazard scoring with full methodology transparency.

Open Live Map — West Virginia

Data Sources

FEMA Disaster Declarations (OpenFEMA)www.fema.gov
NOAA NWPS River Gaugeswater.noaa.gov
FEMA National Flood Hazard Layerwww.fema.gov

Related

Monitoring flood exposure in West Virginia?

This page is a state-level profile. Calchis scores individual addresses, tracks live flood events against your own locations, and alerts you when one approaches them.

Free includes Live map + 3 triggers + 10 bond positions. Analyst is $149/mo for 1,000-location portfolios, ep curves, predictions, parametric triggers.

Calchis Hazard Score — derived from federal and academic sources listed above. Property exposure data not included. Not a substitute for professional actuarial assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.