1,050 flood insurance claims·$9.7M 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 McDowell 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 floods dominate McDowell County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 35 flash flood events resulting in 6 deaths alongside 32 flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this recurring hazard, including widespread rainfall on January 31, 2025, that caused local creeks and streams to quickly spill out of their banks and backed up culverts in low-lying spots. Another flood event occurred on February 15, 2025, following substantial overnight rain and morning thunderstorms driven by an approaching low pressure system and warm front.
Property owners should review their risk based on FEMA claims data. Zone A holds the highest number of claims at 435, with an average payout of $18,222 and an average recorded water depth of 16 inches. However, properties in Zone X and Zone X shaded also face significant risk, recording average water depths of 29 inches and 28 inches respectively. Residents in high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas and low-lying zones prone to creek overflow should pay the closest attention to these flood patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of McDowell County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
536 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 2002, with 319 claims and $3.8M paid, the year of 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.
57 NOAA storm reports from McDowell County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 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 | Jul 12, 2022 |
| 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.
67 since 1996: 35 flash floods and 32 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flood | May 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | $5.0M |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | $5.0M · 3 killed |
| Flood | Feb 1, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 7, 2024 | $500 |
| Flood | May 29, 2023 | $20,000 |
— = 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 · May 17, 2025. A warm front lifted north through West Virginia on May 15th, followed by a cold front approaching from the west and stalling across central Ohio on the 16th. A low pressure system began to pivot northeast out of the Great Lakes region and eventually pushed the cold front eastward across the area on the 17th.||Severe thunderstorms that developed during the afternoon and evening of the 16th produced locally damaging…
Flood · Feb 15, 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…
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 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 McDowell 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.