477 flood insurance claims·$3.9M paid·8 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Boone County, West Virginia. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from heavy rain events dominates the flood risk in Boone County, West Virginia, accounting for 48 recorded events and 1 death over the last 30 years alongside 21 general flood events. This risk is driven by weather patterns such as those seen in February 2025 and April 2025, where approaching low pressure systems, warm fronts, and stalled cold fronts brought substantial, continuous rain and thunderstorms across the region.
Federal insurance claims data indicates that property owners in high-risk Zone A should pay the closest attention to this hazard, as this zone has accumulated 300 claims with an average recorded water depth of 10 inches and an average payout of $11,076. Residents in Zone UNKNOWN also warrant attention due to 146 recorded claims averaging 3 inches of water depth, while properties in Zone X should note that although claims are less frequent (23 claims), they carry the highest average payout at $27,802 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Boone County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
308 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1978, with 123 claims and $422,100 paid.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
56 NOAA storm reports from Boone County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 15, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 11, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 2, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Aug 28, 2023 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 27, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 3, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
69 since 1996: 48 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 28, 2023 | $500 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2025. For the end of June, a stretch of active weather occurred due to a cold front that rippled across Ohio and Pennsylvania and then sank into northern West Virginia while high pressure sprawled across the southeastern United States. A low pressure system pushed the front back to the north before pivoting east out of the Great Lakes region and dragging yet another front towards the middle Ohio Valley for he final few…
Flash Flood · Jul 20, 2025. A stalled cold front settling over West Virginia set forth multiple days of active weather around the area from July 17th to the 21st. The boundary eventually slid north as a warm front on the 19th of July while a disturbance passed across the Great Lakes region and took aim for New England. A secondary cold front approached from the north and then sank down through the middle Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians…
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. Light precipitation started to arrive on the evening of February 14th due to an approaching low pressure system, with more substantial rain spreading across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. This promoted a brief instance of thunderstorms on the morning of February 15th, with damaging winds knocking down trees and power lines to parts of the state. While shower coverage di…
Flood · Apr 4, 2025. A line of showers and thunderstorms followed a warm front across the Middle Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians during the morning of April 3rd. A cold front brought more precipitation into the area the night of the 3rd and then stalled over West Virginia through the morning of the 4th. Showers continued in the vicinity of the boundary which slid to the south on the afternoon of the 4th before being lifted north…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Boone County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.