McDowell County, West Virginia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
McDowell County, West Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 76.7 out of 100, higher than about 76% of US counties, with landslides, cold waves and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $21 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included McDowell County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3639-WV (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 2 tornadoes touching McDowell County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for West Virginia All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 19,078 Buildings worth $3.9 billion Area 540 sq mi Risk rank in West Virginia 6 of 55 FIPS 54047
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 | 95.3 | $77,512 | about 1.8 a year | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 92.8 | $5.0 million | about once every 1.2 years | 16 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 84.7 | $14 million | about 1.8 a year | 50 |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | 75.9 | $9,649 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 72.0 | $578,031 | about 2.1 a year | 79 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 69.3 | $93,680 | about once every 168 years | — |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 58.6 | $235,812 | about once every 633 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 55.2 | $69,936 | about once every 37 years | 10 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 39.5 | $88,472 | about 48 a year | 69,983 strikes |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 27.4 | $14,666 | about 11 a year | 212 |
| Hail | Very Low | 23.9 | $48,954 | about 3.1 a year | 117 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 17.6 | $7,116 | about once every 2.9 years | 23 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 12.4 | $14,786 | about once every 3.2 years | 5 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 11.1 | $44,256 | about once every 22 years | 0 |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | about 1.6 a year | 56 |
| 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 25
Most common: Severe Storm 12, Flood 6, Snowstorm 3, Hurricane 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 3 | Snowstorm ×2, Flood |
| 2000s | 10 | Severe Storm ×8, Hurricane, Fire |
| 2010s | 6 | Severe Storm ×3, Hurricane, Flood, Snowstorm |
| 2020s | 3 | Winter Storm, Severe Storm, Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included McDowell 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 2
| Tornadoes touching the county | 2 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×2 |
| Peak month | April (1) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 12 May 1975, F1, 1 mi path |
| Most recent | 12 May 1975, F1, 1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How McDowell County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDowell County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 76.7 | Landslide |
| Wyoming County | 27 km | Relatively Low | 67.4 | Landslide |
| Tazewell County, VA | 29 km | Relatively Low | 60.2 | Landslide |
| Buchanan County, VA | 36 km | Relatively Low | 50.6 | Landslide |
| Mercer County | 48 km | Relatively Low | 65.2 | Landslide |
| Bland County, VA | 54 km | Very Low | 13.0 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in West Virginia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 96.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 4.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.86 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $21 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 McDowell County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for West Virginia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- 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 McDowell County
What natural disasters is McDowell County, West Virginia most at risk from?
McDowell County, West Virginia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 76.7 out of 100, higher than about 76% of US counties, with landslides, cold waves and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $21 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has McDowell County had?
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included McDowell County since 1972, 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 McDowell County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 2 tornadoes touching McDowell 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.