1,679 flood insurance claims·$30.2M 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 Mingo 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 floods and river floods dominate the flood history of Mingo County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 38 flash flood events and 31 flood events over the last 30 years. Recent flood events occurred in February 2025, driven by light precipitation from an approaching low pressure system that transitioned into substantial overnight rain, a warm front, and morning thunderstorms that produced damaging winds.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts are heavily concentrated in Zone A, which accounts for 1,240 claims with an average payout of $22,626 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. However, properties in other zones also experience significant water accumulation. For instance, Zone X properties recorded an average water depth of 21 inches with an average payout of $29,508, while Zone X unshaded properties recorded an average water depth of 8 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within FEMA Zone A, which has received the vast majority of insurance claims in the county. Properties in Zone X and shaded Zone X areas also warrant careful evaluation due to notable average claim payouts and recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
14% of Mingo County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,446 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 5 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 1984, with 790 claims and $17.1M 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.
58 NOAA storm reports from Mingo County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
36 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 And Flooding | Feb 27, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 3, 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
69 since 1996: 38 flash floods and 31 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | $5.0M |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2023 | $1,500 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
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…
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. A line of showers and thunderstorms followed a warm front across the Middle Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians during the morning of April 3rd. A cold front brought more precipitation into the area the night of the 3rd and then stalled over West Virginia through the morning of the 4th. Showers continued in the vicinity of the boundary which slid to the south on the afternoon of the 4th before being lifted north…
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 Mingo 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.