FEMA Records
21
Above median
West Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Monongalia County, WV
21 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 21
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 72
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Monongalia County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 21 declarations, more than 52% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 13% below the West Virginia county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 28%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 28%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 21
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 361
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 54061 · Monongalia County 21 declarations · rank 1457/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 21
- MAJOR-MID 71%
- RANK-LOWER #1,457
- PHOTO-FINISH Montgomery
- NRI-LOW 72
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -13%
Nearest declaration peer: Montgomery, IN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · West Virginia state profile
Monongalia County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Monongalia County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Atascosa · near 21
Atascosa · near
21 declarations
- Mason · near 21
Mason · near
21 declarations
- Monongalia · this county 21
Monongalia · this county
21 declarations
- Montgomery · near 21
Montgomery · near
21 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Monongalia County carries 21 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1457 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Monongalia County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Monongalia County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Monongalia County
21 Top 48% higher than 52% 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
Monongalia County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Monongalia County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $31.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), 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 Monongalia County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 361 paid claims, totaling $3.2M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $8.8K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a West Virginia county averages 24.2 federal declaration records, while Monongalia County has 21. The gap is 13% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 71.5/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $36.3M in annualized losses), and a Very Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. 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 roughly once every 1 years here.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Monongalia 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
15/30
21 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
21 declarations (0.9x state county average of 24)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
15 of 21 declarations are major disasters (71%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Monongalia County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Monongalia 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
71%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
72
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Monongalia 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 | roughly once every 1 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 44 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 43 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 14 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 10 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,110 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 15,494 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | an average of 2.7 times per year |
| Drought | Very Low | 1.7 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 7
Flood 4
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 2
Winter Storm 1
Mud/Landslide 1
Fire 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Monongalia County's record, 33% 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 - 15 71.4%
of all 21 declarations
Emergency - 6 28.6%
of all 21 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 21 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 21 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 |
| 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 |
| 4331 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-08-18 |
| 4210 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-03-31 |
| 3358 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 3345 | SEVERE STORMS | EM | Severe Storm | 2012-06-30 |
| 4059 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-03-16 |
| 1903 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-04-23 |
| 3221 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 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 |
| 1319 | FLOODING, SEVERE STORMS, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2000-02-28 |
| 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 |
| 753 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1985-11-07 |
| 628 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1980-08-15 |
Show 1 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 344 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-07-03 |
Storm Events in West Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Monongalia 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
361
Total Paid
$3.2M
Avg Per Claim
$8.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 71.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$36.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Drought Very 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: 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 Monongalia 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
Monongalia County's closest FEMA peer: Yates County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Monongalia County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Monongalia County shows 21 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Monongalia County: 15 of 21 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Monongalia County: NRI composite 71.5 (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 Monongalia County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Monongalia 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: 71.5 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 21. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Monongalia County's NFIP claims file (361 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 Monongalia County?
The most common disaster type in Monongalia County is Severe Storm, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Snowstorm (3), Biological (2).
How does Monongalia County's FEMA declaration record compare with the West Virginia average?
The typical West Virginia county has 24.2 FEMA declaration records; Monongalia County has 21, or 13% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 1% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Monongalia County received?
Monongalia County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 71% of all 21 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Monongalia County filed?
Monongalia County has 361 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $3.2M in payments, with an average of $8.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Monongalia County?
No. In Monongalia County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $31.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Monongalia County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Monongalia 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 Monongalia County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Monongalia County, West Virginia has an overall risk score of 71.5 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very Low and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $36.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Monongalia County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Monongalia County is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate) and Lightning (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at roughly once every 1 years. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Monongalia County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · West Virginia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events