369 flood insurance claims·$7.1M paid·8 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 Tucker 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 character of Tucker County, accounting for 38 of the 44 total flood events recorded over the last 30 years in the NOAA Storm Events Database, alongside 6 standard flood events. Historical events documented in the database include flash flooding driven by a moist airmass and nearly stationary front in June 2025, as well as heavy rainfall from the remnant low-pressure center of Hurricane Ida interacting with a stalled frontal zone in September 2021.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties located in Zone A experience the heaviest financial and physical impacts, registering 299 claims with an average payout of $27,332 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Properties in Zone X also face risk, accounting for 52 claims with an average payout of $4,788 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 15 claims averaging $15,366 with an average water depth of 5 inches, while Zone X_SHADED recorded 3 claims averaging $16,902 with an average water depth of 6 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A due to the high frequency and severity of claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Tucker County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
302 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 12 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 1996, with 257 claims and $4.9M paid, the year of Flooding, Flooding, Heavy Winds and Hurricane Fran and Associated Heavy Rains,flooding Highwind.
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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Tucker 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, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 28, 2017 |
| 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 Winter Storms And Snowstorms | Feb 5, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
44 since 1996: 38 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 7, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2019 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2018 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 3, 2018 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 2, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 7, 2025. A very moist airmass and a nearly stationary front resulted in rounds of thunderstorms that produced flash flooding on June 6th into the morning hours of the 7th. This included reports of flooding in Marion, Monongalia, and Preston counties in West Virginia.
Flash Flood · Sep 1, 2021. The remnant low pressure center of Hurricane Ida passed across West Virginia and the Central Appalachian Mountains from late August 31st through September 1st. The abundant moisture associated with the low intersected a frontal zone which was nearly stalled in the area of the Ohio Valley. Strong isentropic and frontogenetically-induced lift led to periods of heavy rain over eastern Ohio over the two-day period,…
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2019. An unstable environment, plus residual outflow boundaries from previous convection, helped to expand thunderstorm coverage during the evening of the 29th and into the early morning hours of the 30th ahead of a sagging cold front. Storms pushed across Preston and Tucker Counties starting after 10 PM on the 29th. Periods of moderate to heavy rain occurred until around 5 AM the following morning as backbuilding sto…
Flash Flood · Jul 14, 2019. Showers and thunderstorms occurred south of the Mason-Dixon line as a weak and slow moving front exited the region.
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 Tucker 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.