199 flood insurance claims·$2.4M paid·5 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 Webster 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 driven by heavy precipitation dominates the flood risk profile in Webster County, accounting for 34 out of 55 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 21 general flood events. Recent events recorded by NOAA illustrate this pattern, including floods in January 2025 caused by an advancing low-pressure system that brought widespread rainfall, prompting local creeks and streams to spill out of their banks and causing high water issues in low-lying areas as culverts backed up. Another flood event occurred in February 2025 following showers and severe thunderstorms ahead of a cold front.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims have been filed across multiple zones, with 98 claims in Zone A averaging a payout of $17,882 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Additionally, Zone X properties experienced 52 claims with an average payout of $23,730 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches, while 48 claims in Zone UNKNOWN averaged a payout of $6,559 with an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, and 1 claim in Zone X_UNSHADED averaged $6,575 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Property owners located in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to this flood risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Webster County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
99 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 9 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 2016, with 50 claims and $1.6M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides.
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.
37 NOAA storm reports from Webster County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the West Virginia flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1980, 5 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 Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 10, 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Mudslides, And | Jun 3, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
55 since 1996: 34 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $50 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 1, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 9, 2023 | $1,000 |
— = 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 13, 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…
Flood · Feb 6, 2025. Showers first entered into West Virginia on the evening of February 5th as a disturbance skirted by to the south. Precipitation continued into the next day, in addition to a few severe thunderstorms that developed ahead of a cold front in the early afternoon. Strong wind gusts from storms caused numerous downed trees and power line damage across Boone and Lincoln Counties during the early afternoon of February 6th…
Flood · Feb 1, 2025. A low pressure system brought widespread rainfall to the area on the 31st of January, initiating flooding in poor drainage areas and along local creeks and streams. While rainfall ended the evening of the 31st, high water and river flooding continued into early February. River flooding persisted along the Little Kanawha River through the 1st of February, while the Tygart Valley and Buckhannon Rivers did not recede…
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 Webster 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.