FEMA Records
27
High volume
West Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
McDowell County, WV
27 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 27
- FEMA declarations
- 20
- Major disasters
- 77
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for McDowell County. Its 27 FEMA declarations are 12% above the West Virginia county mean and exceed the count for 78% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 23%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 23%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 27
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,049
- 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.
How does McDowell County compare?
McDowell County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
27 Top 22% higher than 78% 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 · 2026-08-03
McDowell County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the West Virginia county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for McDowell County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $14.2M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Landslide carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does McDowell County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,049 claims and $9.7M 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 $9.2K. 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. McDowell County's 27 federal records stand 12% 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 76.7/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $20.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Landslide carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.8 times per year here.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 27 entries for McDowell County, including 20 Major Disaster records, 12% above the West Virginia county mean. Across the 54-year span, that works out to 0.5 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 12 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
McDowell 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) High
20/30
27 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
27 declarations (1.1x state county average of 24)
Major Disaster Share Very High
19/25
20 of 27 declarations are major disasters (74%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in McDowell County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. West Virginia Avg
+12%
State avg: 24.2
vs. National Avg
+30%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 54 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - McDowell 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
74%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
77
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike McDowell 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 168 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 634 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 37 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 48 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 11 times per year |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 3.1 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 22 years |
| Drought | No Rating | 1.6 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 12
Flood 6
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 2
Winter Storm 1
Fire 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on McDowell County's record, 44% 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 - 20 74.1%
of all 27 declarations
Emergency - 6 22.2%
of all 27 declarations
Fire Management - 1 3.7%
of all 27 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
Show 5 earlier declaration years
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 27 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 27 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 |
| 4861 | SEVERE STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2025-02-26 |
| 4678 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2022-11-28 |
| 4517 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-03 |
| 3450 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4210 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-03-31 |
| 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 |
| 1918 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2010-06-24 |
| 1881 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-03-02 |
| 1838 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-05-15 |
| 1696 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-01 |
| 3221 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 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 |
| 1455 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, RECORD/NEAR RECORD SNOW, HEAVY RAINS, FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 1410 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-05-05 |
| 2391 | WV - SOUTHEAST FIRE COMPLEX - 11/16/2001 | FM | Fire | 2001-11-16 |
Show 7 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1378 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-03 |
| 1115 | FLOODING, HEAVY WINDS | DR | Flood | 1996-05-23 |
| 1084 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 3109 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 706 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-05-15 |
| 531 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-04-07 |
| 349 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-08-23 |
Storm Events in West Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to McDowell 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
1,049
Total Paid
$9.7M
Avg Per Claim
$9.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 76.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$20.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Drought No Rating
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: Landslide
Landslide risk is a function of slope, soil and water, so it is usually a SECOND-ORDER hazard: it is triggered by the rainfall, snowmelt, wildfire burn scars or seismic shaking that came first. That is why a county can carry high landslide exposure whose realized damage is recorded under a flood or storm declaration instead.
Worth noting for McDowell County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Landslide 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
McDowell County's closest FEMA peer: Bucks County, PA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for McDowell County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
McDowell County shows 27 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
McDowell County: 20 of 27 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
McDowell County: NRI composite 76.7 (Relatively Low).
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 McDowell County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
McDowell County's NFIP claims file (1,049 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in McDowell County?
The most common disaster type in McDowell County is Severe Storm, with 12 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (6), Snowstorm (3), Biological (2).
How does McDowell County's FEMA declaration record compare with the West Virginia average?
FEMA lists 27 declaration records for McDowell County. That is 12% above the West Virginia county mean of 24.2. Its count is also 30% 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 McDowell County received?
McDowell County has received 20 major disaster declarations, representing 74% of all 27 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has McDowell County filed?
McDowell County has 1,049 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $9.7M in payments, with an average of $9.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in McDowell County?
No. In McDowell County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $14.2M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in McDowell County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in McDowell County was 1996, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for McDowell County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, McDowell County, West Virginia has an overall risk score of 76.7 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $20.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to McDowell County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in McDowell County as of the latest release is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at an average of 1.8 times per year. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, exposed assets, and community vulnerability.
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.
What this means for McDowell County
McDowell County, WV has 27 federal declaration records, 12% more than the West Virginia county mean of 24; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 20 of 27 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. West Virginia overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the West Virginia mean and the totals for 78% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.