67 flood insurance claims·$535,008 paid·4 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 Wirt 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 severe weather and storms dominates the flood profile of Wirt County, supported by NOAA Storm Events Database records showing 17 flash flood events compared to 13 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent activity includes heavy downpours and thunderstorms in August 2025, as well as significant precipitation driven by approaching low-pressure systems and warm fronts in February 2025.
Federal Emergency Management Agency records indicate that properties located within FEMA Zone A have experienced the heaviest impacts, accounting for 52 National Flood Insurance Program claims with an average payout of $10,828 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. In contrast, Zone X properties recorded 6 claims with an average payout of $5,520 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone UNKNOWN properties recorded 9 claims averaging a $3,207 payout with an average water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in Zone A, which face the highest frequency of claims and the deepest average water inundation during flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Wirt County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
52 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 11 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 1997, with 24 claims and $257,720 paid, the year of Heavy & Wind Driven Rain, High Winds,flooding,slides.
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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Wirt 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, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 13, 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, Flooding, Mudslides, And Landslides | May 3, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
30 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jan 1, 2022 | $500 |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | $2,000 |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | $8,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 27, 2020 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash 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…
Flash Flood · Aug 13, 2025. Scattered showers and thunderstorms blossomed across the area on the 13th of August as a cold front slowly approached from the northwest. The front eventually reached the Ohio River around midnight and then proceeded southeast through West Virginia by the afternoon of the 14th. ||In addition to producing heavy downpours, thunderstorms began training across portions of southeast Ohio and southwest West Virginia dur…
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…
Flash Flood · Apr 11, 2024. Showers and thunderstorms developed on the afternoon of April 11th due to the combination of unseasonably warm temperatures and a passing disturbance. Storms crossed in from the Ohio River Valley during the early afternoon and continued an eastward progression into the evening. A swath of tree damage and power outages were observed from Mingo County to the eastern half of the West Virginia from damaging wind gusts…
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 Wirt 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.