FEMA Records
32
Very high volume
West Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Cabell County, WV
32 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 32
- FEMA declarations
- 24
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Cabell County. Its 32 FEMA declarations are 32% above the West Virginia county mean and exceed the count for 89% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 15%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 32
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 806
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 54011 · Cabell County 32 declarations · rank 324/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 32
- MAJOR-MID 75%
- RANK-UPPER #324
- PHOTO-FINISH Perry
- NRI-MID 85
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +32%
Nearest declaration peer: Perry, MS (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · West Virginia state profile
Cabell County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Cabell County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cabell · this county 32
Cabell · this county
32 declarations
- East Carroll · near 32
East Carroll · near
32 declarations
- Nicholas · near 32
Nicholas · near
32 declarations
- Perry · near 32
Perry · near
32 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Cabell County carries 32 FEMA declaration records, ranked 324 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Cabell County ranks in the national declaration registry
Cabell County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Cabell County
32 Top 11% higher than 89% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Cabell County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Cabell County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 806 claims and $11.4M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $14.1K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Cabell County's 32 federal records stand 32% above the West Virginia county mean of 24.2. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 85.4/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $49.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Riverine Flooding carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 2.8 times per year here, based on 78 historical events on record.
79 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Cabell County, WV · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Very High
23/30
32 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
17/25
32 declarations (1.3x state county average of 24)
Major Disaster Share Very High
19/25
24 of 32 declarations are major disasters (75%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
10 different disaster types declared in Cabell County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Cabell County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
75%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Cabell County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.8 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 4.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 8.4 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 839 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 48 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 878 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.1 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 43 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 24 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 3.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 13
Flood 7
Biological 2
Hurricane 2
Fire 2
Snowstorm 2
Winter Storm 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
Mud/Landslide 1
Chemical 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Cabell County's record, 41% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 24 75.0%
of all 32 declarations
Emergency - 7 21.9%
of all 32 declarations
Fire Management - 1 3.1%
of all 32 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 3 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
Show 8 earlier declaration years
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 32 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 32 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3639 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 4783 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-05-22 |
| 4605 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2021-05-20 |
| 4603 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-05-13 |
| 4517 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-03 |
| 3450 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4359 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Mud/Landslide | 2018-04-17 |
| 4221 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2015-05-21 |
| 4219 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-14 |
| 4210 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-03-31 |
| 3366 | CHEMICAL SPILL | EM | Chemical | 2014-01-10 |
| 3358 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4071 | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-23 |
| 3345 | SEVERE STORMS | EM | Severe Storm | 2012-06-30 |
| 1696 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-01 |
| 3221 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1558 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-20 |
| 1522 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-07 |
| 1500 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-11-21 |
| 1474 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-06-21 |
Show 12 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1455 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, RECORD/NEAR RECORD SNOW, HEAVY RAINS, FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 2391 | WV - SOUTHEAST FIRE COMPLEX - 11/16/2001 | FM | Fire | 2001-11-16 |
| 1378 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-03 |
| 1319 | FLOODING, SEVERE STORMS, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2000-02-28 |
| 1229 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-07-01 |
| 1168 | HEAVY & WIND DRIVEN RAIN, HIGH WINDS,FLOODING,SLIDES | DR | Flood | 1997-03-07 |
| 1132 | HEAVY RAINS, HIGH WINDS, FLOODING, AND SLIDES | DR | Fire | 1996-08-14 |
| 1084 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 3109 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 569 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-12-14 |
| 531 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-04-07 |
| 224 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1967-03-13 |
Storm Events in West Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Cabell County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,644 | 4 | 9 | $16.4M |
| Winter Weather | 1,939 | 0 | 22 | $1.3M |
| Flood | 1,127 | 13 | 0 | $109.0M |
| Flash Flood | 1,003 | 33 | 1 | $141.5M |
| Hail | 757 | 1 | 0 | $6.5M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
806
Total Paid
$11.4M
Avg Per Claim
$14.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 85.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$49.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Riverine Flooding
Riverine Flooding is the model's measure of a watershed draining more water than its channel can carry. Unlike flash flooding it usually builds over days and is forecast in advance, which makes it the hazard where warning time most reliably converts into reduced harm.
Worth noting for Cabell County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Riverine Flooding carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Cabell County's closest FEMA peer: San Jacinto County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Cabell County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Cabell County shows 32 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Cabell County: 24 of 32 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Cabell County: NRI composite 85.4 (Relatively Moderate).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Cabell County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Cabell County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 85.4 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 32. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Cabell County's NFIP claims file (806 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Cabell County?
The most common disaster type in Cabell County is Severe Storm, with 13 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (7), Biological (2), Hurricane (2).
How does Cabell County's FEMA declaration record compare with the West Virginia average?
FEMA lists 32 declaration records for Cabell County. That is 32% above the West Virginia county mean of 24.2. Its count is also 54% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Cabell County received?
Cabell County has received 24 major disaster declarations, representing 75% of all 32 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Cabell County filed?
Cabell County has 806 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $11.4M in payments, with an average of $14.1K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Cabell County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Cabell County was 2004, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Cabell County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Cabell County, West Virginia has an overall risk score of 85.4 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $49.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Cabell County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Cabell County is Riverine Flooding (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Ice Storm (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts riverine flooding here at an average of 2.8 times per year, drawn from 78 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Cabell County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · West Virginia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events