786 flood insurance claims·$5.7M paid·6 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 Harrison 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 dominates the flood character of Harrison County, accounting for 78 recorded events compared to 41 general flood events over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent occurrences illustrate this risk, such as the January 31, 2025 event when a low pressure system caused local creeks and streams to spill out of their banks alongside high water issues in low-lying spots. Similarly, on May 28, 2025, a stationary cold front dropped localized rainfall onto already saturated ground in Harrison and Taylor counties, flooding several roadways.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, highlighting risks for various property types. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 363 claims averaging $9,555 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, properties categorized under Zone UNKNOWN recorded 254 claims with an average payout of $6,430 and an average water depth of 4 inches, and Zone X properties recorded 83 claims averaging $13,263 with an average water depth of 12 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in mapped high-risk zones, low-lying areas prone to backed-up culverts, and zones with historical claim activity should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Harrison County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
449 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 6 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 141 claims and $296,717 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.
93 NOAA storm reports from Harrison County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Aug 28, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 28, 2017 |
| 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.
119 since 1996: 78 flash floods and 41 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flood | May 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 25, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 31, 2025. The final few days of July featured a cold front slowly approaching West Virginia and stalling overhead. While much of the area remained dry on July 30th, showers and thunderstorms formed along the mountains and made little progress during the afternoon. Scattered activity spread farther west into the lowlands during the evening and then fizzled out overnight. The next round of showers and storms developed along t…
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 · May 30, 2025. A warm front lifted into the vicinity of West Virginia on the night of May 29th and remained present overhead until being ushered east by a low the evening of the 30th. Behind this system, a cold front approached from the north and slowly descended southward through the area on the 31st.||Rounds of rain and storms moved across the area on the 30th, with several severe thunderstorms downing power lines and numerous…
Flood · May 28, 2025. A low pressure system brought a warm front and then cold front into West Virginia on May 28th. The cold front became stationary and then weakened over the area later that night. While rainfall amounts for the 28th were mainly less than an inch and a half, a couple of inches fell over localized portions of Harrison and Taylor Counties. Rainfall from the previous day had also helped to saturate the ground, making f…
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 Harrison 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.