344 flood insurance claims·$4.3M 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 Lincoln 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.
Frequent river flooding and flash flooding from storms characterize the flood risks in Lincoln County, West Virginia, supported by over the last 30 years yielding 59 flood events resulting in 2 deaths and 52 flash flood events recorded in the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent documented events include flooding driven by persistent precipitation and thunderstorms in February 2025, specifically on February 6, 2025, and February 16, 2025, which involved low-pressure systems, warm fronts, and severe wind gusts that downed trees and power lines.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in multiple zones face financial risk, with 159 claims in Zone A averaging a $14,555 payout and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Additionally, Zone X properties experienced 92 claims with an average payout of $26,357 and an average water depth of 6 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 87 claims averaging a $6231 payout with an average water depth of 4 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these flood risks given the substantial claim frequencies and recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Lincoln County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
165 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 2003, with 80 claims and $2.1M 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.
91 NOAA storm reports from Lincoln County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
39 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 11 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 And Flooding | Feb 27, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 10, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 22, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
111 since 1996: 52 flash floods and 59 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $250 |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $1,500 |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 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 · 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…
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 Lincoln 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.