3,123 flood insurance claims·$33.7M 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 Ohio 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 dominates the flood risk in Ohio County, West Virginia, where NOAA records show 43 flash flood events and 9 deaths alongside 15 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including catastrophic flash flooding on June 14, 2025, when a slow-moving thunderstorm dropped over 3 inches of rain in an hour near Valley Grove, impacting Little Wheeling Creek and its tributaries. Subsequent slow-moving storms and training cells produced additional flash flooding in Wheeling on June 15 and June 26, 2025.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with the highest volume concentrated in high-risk areas. Properties in Zone A account for 2,572 claims with an average payout of $12,402 and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 133 claims with an average payout of $24,810 and an average water depth of 18 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED properties recorded 39 claims with an average water depth of 24 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A and Zone X, where historical claims and average water depths indicate significant vulnerability to localized and riverine flooding.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Ohio County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
2,669 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 14 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 2004, with 1,033 claims and $17.1M 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.
31 NOAA storm reports from Ohio County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 14, 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, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 28, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 8, 2015 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 29, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
58 since 1996: 43 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 14, 2025 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 14, 2025 | $2.0M · 9 killed |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | $333,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2025. A warm, moist airmass remained in place through the latter half of the month which allowed for daily shower and thunderstorm chances. Training storms was the primary factor to the resultant flash flooding as cells developed upshear of the initial updrafts in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. One of these storms did result in yet another round of flash flooding for portions of Wheeling WV.
Flash Flood · Jun 15, 2025. Following the catastrophic flooding that occurred in portions of Wheeling, WV late on the 14th, another round of slow moving storms developed along a stationary boundary over portions of northern West Virginia. With climatologically high precipitable water values, rainfall was efficient, allowing for 2-4 inch/hr rates. This impacted several counties in northern West Virginia but the hardest hit was the city of Fai…
Flash Flood · Jun 14, 2025. On the evening of June 14th, a slow moving thunderstorm passed over portions of Ohio County just east of the city of Wheeling. It's slow movement and interaction with another storm allowed for very heavy rainfall in a short period of time. In addition, precipitable water values were very high - in the 90th percentile. A local IFLOWS gage near Valley Grove recorded over 3 inches in an hour. This resulted in catastr…
Flash Flood · Apr 11, 2024. A strong mid-level trough and an associated frontal zone crossed through the|Mid-South and took aim on the OH Valley. Strong forcing associated the energy aloft coupled with a gradually destabilizing boundary layer out ahead it set the stage for areas of locally heavy showers and thunderstorms for several hours and prompted dangerous flash flooding. A flash flood emergency was issued for portions of Allegheny Coun…
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 Ohio 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.