455 flood insurance claims·$5.2M paid·7 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 Gilmer 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 and river flooding driven by heavy rainfall and overflowing local creeks and streams dominate the flood character of Gilmer County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 28 flash flood events and 26 flood events. Recent instances include an advancing low pressure system that caused local creeks and streams to spill out of their banks on January 31, 2025, with high water and river flooding along the Little Kanawha River persisting into February 1, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms also produced flooding conditions on April 12, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks affect properties across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for the highest volume with 299 claims, averaging an $11,485 payout and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Properties categorized under Zone UNKNOWN recorded 116 claims with an average payout of $16,019 and an average water depth of 4 inches, while Zone X accounts for 40 claims averaging a $17,904 payout and an average water depth of 8 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in Zone A near creeks, streams, and rivers, as well as low-lying areas vulnerable to poor drainage and backed-up culverts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Gilmer County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
299 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 10 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 2008, with 68 claims and $1.3M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Mudslides, And.
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.
37 NOAA storm reports from Gilmer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 11, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 22, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 8, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2015 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Jun 29, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
54 since 1996: 28 flash floods and 26 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 1, 2025 | $250 |
| Flood | Apr 12, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Flood | May 7, 2022 | $3,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jan 31, 2025. An advancing low pressure system set forth ample amounts of lift and moisture to round out the month of January. Widespread rainfall first entered into the southwestern coalfields of West Virginia on the morning of January 31st, and continued to invade northeastward and up into the higher terrain of the state. Local creeks and streams quickly spilled out of their banks on that day in conjunction with high water is…
Flood · Feb 6, 2025. Showers first entered into West Virginia on the evening of February 5th as a disturbance skirted by to the south. Precipitation continued into the next day, in addition to a few severe thunderstorms that developed ahead of a cold front in the early afternoon. Strong wind gusts from storms caused numerous downed trees and power line damage across Boone and Lincoln Counties during the early afternoon of February 6th…
Flood · Feb 1, 2025. A low pressure system brought widespread rainfall to the area on the 31st of January, initiating flooding in poor drainage areas and along local creeks and streams. While rainfall ended the evening of the 31st, high water and river flooding continued into early February. River flooding persisted along the Little Kanawha River through the 1st of February, while the Tygart Valley and Buckhannon Rivers did not recede…
Flood · Apr 12, 2024. Showers and thunderstorms developed on the afternoon of April 11th due to the combination of unseasonably warm temperatures and a passing disturbance. Storms crossed in from the Ohio River Valley during the early afternoon and continued an eastward progression into the evening. A swath of tree damage and power outages were observed from Mingo County to the eastern half of the West Virginia from damaging wind gusts…
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 Gilmer 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.