417 flood insurance claims·$3.1M 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 Upshur 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.
Upshur County experiences a nearly even distribution of general floods and rapid flash floods, with 38 flood events and 37 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, such as January 2025, when an advancing low-pressure system brought widespread rainfall that caused local creeks and streams to spill out of their banks alongside high water issues in low-lying spots from backed-up culverts. Another flood event occurred in February 2025 as showers and precipitation moved across the state ahead of a cold front.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrates that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for the highest volume with 305 claims, averaging an $8,099 payout and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties with an unknown zone recorded 75 claims with an average payout of $9,522 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Additionally, lower-risk areas experience impacts, including 26 claims in Zone X averaging a $9,029 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, 10 claims in shaded Zone X averaging a $5,694 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, and 1 claim in unshaded Zone X with a $2,706 payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in Zone A and low-lying areas near local creeks and streams, while recognizing that properties in unknown and Zone X designations also carry documented flood claim histories and recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Upshur County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
316 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 1996, with 136 claims and $987,613 paid, the year of Flooding, Heavy Winds.
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 Upshur County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 22, 2016 |
| 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 | May 3, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 14, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
75 since 1996: 37 flash floods and 38 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $250 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 7, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | $10,000 |
— = 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…
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 · Jun 15, 2025. The middle of the month proved to be active across the state of West Virginia in response to a stalled frontal boundary across Ohio, southern Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia while an upper level disturbance pivoted overhead. Showers and storms began to develop in the moist and unstable environment by the night of June 13th. A lull in precipitation occurred the morning of the 14th, then activity redevelope…
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2025. Active weather returned to West Virginia on July 9th in the midst of a cold front slowly approaching from the west. Additional moisture was ushered into the region from the remnants of a tropical system tracked north through the Carolinas and Virginia. While the bulk of precipitation associated with the tropical system stayed well east of the mountains, scattered showers and thunderstorms sprouted up in the lower…
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 Upshur 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.