333 flood insurance claims·$3.0M 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 Lewis 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 summer thunderstorms and heavy rainfall dominates Lewis County, with NOAA records showing 32 flash flood events compared to 17 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent occurrences include high water and overflowing creeks driven by a low-pressure system in January 2025, followed by heavy showers and thunderstorms producing flash flooding in May and June of 2025.
Federal insurance data indicates that properties located within FEMA Flood Zone A carry the heaviest burden, accounting for 197 National Flood Insurance Program claims with an average payout of $13,580 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. An additional 85 claims occurred in zones marked as unknown, averaging $4,326 with an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X properties recorded 44 claims averaging $19,397 with a 4-inch average water depth. Zone X Shaded and Zone X Unshaded properties recorded a combined 7 claims with average payouts of $250 and $6,871 respectively, both averaging 1 inch of recorded water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A and low-lying areas vulnerable to rapid creek overflow and backed-up culverts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Lewis County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
204 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 3 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 1985, with 100 claims and $1.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms & Flooding.
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.
34 NOAA storm reports from Lewis 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, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| 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 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Landslides | Jun 12, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
49 since 1996: 32 flash floods and 17 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2022 | $500 |
| Flood | Jan 1, 2022 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2021 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 11, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 22, 2020 | $4,000 |
— = 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…
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 · May 13, 2025. A frontal boundary stalled over the state of West Virginia beginning on May 11th, then dissolved over the area while a disturbance approached from the southwest on the 12th. Widespread precipitation progressed northward across the area on the 12th, followed by rounds of scattered showers and thunderstorms continuing to impact the area over the next couple of days as an upper level trough and surface low pressure s…
Flash Flood · Jun 16, 2022. As a heat wave ensued across the Central Appalachians during the middle of June, the atmosphere remained primed for afternoon showers and thunderstorms. On June 16th, the strongest storms resided across the northern portions of West Virginia, where numerous trees were blown down and quarter sized hail fell. A few instances of heavy downpours within the storms occurred, leading to high water along local roadways in…
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 Lewis 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.