Calhoun County, West Virginia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Calhoun County, West Virginia has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 16.8 out of 100, higher than about 16% of US counties, with landslides, inland (river and flash) flooding and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $4.9 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Calhoun County since 1967, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3639-WV (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Calhoun County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for West Virginia All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 6,220 Buildings worth $2.0 billion Area 284 sq mi Risk rank in West Virginia 50 of 55 FIPS 54013
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 90.7 | $46,875 | about once every 1.3 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 45.5 | $4.4 million | about 1.5 a year | 41 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 44.6 | $33,254 | about once every 47 years | 4 |
| Drought | Very Low | 30.7 | $20,740 | about 7.5 a year | 189 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 25.9 | $18,839 | about once every 12 years | 6 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 24.6 | $32,768 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 19.5 | $44,671 | about 3.2 a year | 56 |
| Lightning | Very Low | 19.3 | $50,491 | about 47 a year | 26,588 strikes |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 17.5 | $140,522 | about once a year | 19 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 16.3 | $10,188 | about 8.8 a year | 168 |
| Hail | Very Low | 15.2 | $39,274 | about 2.4 a year | 90 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 11.5 | $8 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 10.4 | $58,132 | about once every 1.4 years | 28 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 5.7 | $18,850 | about once every 34 years | 0 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 3.8 | $985 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 22
Most common: Severe Storm 9, Flood 6, Snowstorm 3, Hurricane 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Flood |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 4 | Snowstorm ×2, Severe Storm, Flood |
| 2000s | 8 | Severe Storm ×6, Hurricane, Flood |
| 2010s | 6 | Severe Storm ×2, Mud/Landslide, Flood, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2020s | 2 | Winter Storm, Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Calhoun County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3639-WV): 55 West Virginia counties designated.
- Hurricane Sandy (2012, EM-3358-WV): 55 West Virginia counties designated.
- Severe Storms (2012, EM-3345-WV): 55 West Virginia counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Sandy (2012), Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. West Virginia also had 6 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 0
No tornado in NOAA's Storm Prediction Center record touched Calhoun County between 1950 and 2025. That does not mean one cannot happen.
How Calhoun County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calhoun County (this page) | — | Very Low | 16.8 | Landslide |
| Gilmer County | 24 km | Very Low | 11.5 | Landslide |
| Roane County | 25 km | Relatively Low | 45.0 | Landslide |
| Wirt County | 30 km | Very Low | 9.0 | Landslide |
| Ritchie County | 37 km | Very Low | 16.1 | Landslide |
| Braxton County | 38 km | Very Low | 36.2 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in West Virginia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 73.7 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 37.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.37 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $4.9 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Calhoun County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for West Virginia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Calhoun County
What natural disasters is Calhoun County, West Virginia most at risk from?
Calhoun County, West Virginia has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 16.8 out of 100, higher than about 16% of US counties, with landslides, inland (river and flash) flooding and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $4.9 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Calhoun County had?
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Calhoun County since 1967, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3639-WV (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). Another 6 West Virginia declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Calhoun County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Calhoun County from 1950 to 2025.
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.