2,479 flood insurance claims·$43.0M paid·11 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 Kanawha 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 localized events dominates the flood character of Kanawha County, backed by 117 flash flood events and 86 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent NOAA records illustrate this pattern, including a flood event on January 31, 2025, where widespread rainfall caused local creeks and streams to spill out of their banks alongside high water issues in low-lying spots. Another flood event occurred on February 16, 2025, following light precipitation, substantial overnight rain, and thunderstorms that brought damaging winds.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas, with properties across multiple zones recording significant damage. Zone A has experienced the highest impact with 1,715 claims averaging $23,783 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. However, properties in Zone X have also logged substantial claims, averaging $29,827 with an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone X_SHADED claims averaged 15 inches of water depth. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A and low-lying areas near local creeks and streams, as well as properties in Zone X zones where historical claims demonstrate meaningful flood depths and financial loss.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of Kanawha County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,959 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 11 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 2003, with 483 claims and $5.0M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm, Record/near Record Snow, Heavy Rains, Flooding and Landslides and Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides.
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.
167 NOAA storm reports from Kanawha County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
34 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 11 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, 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 | Jun 22, 2016 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2015 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 29, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
203 since 1996: 117 flash floods and 86 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $50 |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $250 |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 19, 2025 | — |
— = 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…
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 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…
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 19, 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…
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 Kanawha 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.