Raleigh County

WV PDC Region: 1

(County Scale, All Risk Indicators Report)

August 2025

Cumulative Flood Risk Score

68.5% Relatively High

Ranks 18th of 55 counties in the state

0 of 25 risk indicators among the top 10% counties.
6 of 25 risk indicators among the top 20% counties.

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Noteworthy Flood Risk Facts for Raleigh County

Table 1. Noteworthy Flood Risk Facts: A Cumulative Flood Risk Index of 25 flood factors reveals that Raleigh County ranks 18th of 55 counties in the state with a Cumulative Flood Risk Score of 68.5%. Below are all 25 flood risk indicators used in the risk index. Click on the More Info link for rationale and recommendations of each indicator.

Risk Indicator	Description	More Info	Supplementary External Links
Floodplain Area	8,959 acres of high-risk floodplain.	Click for more information.	Floodplain Area by County
Floodplain Length	399.8 miles of high-risk floodplain.	Click for more information.	Floodplain Length by County
Flood Declared Disasters	20 flood declared disasters since 1953.	Click for more information.	Federally-Declared Flood Disasters by County Federally-Declared Flood Disasters by County
Flood Depth Median	1.9 feet median base flood depth.	Click for more information.	Media Flood Depth by County (FEMA 1% Flood) Media Flood Depth by County (FEMA 1% Flood) Percent Rank Classification
Building Floodplain Count	1,945 buildings in a high-risk flood zone.	Click for more information.	Building Count in SFHA by County Building Count in SFHA by County (Percent Rank Classification)
Building Floodway Count	11 buildings in the regulatory floodway or main river channel.	Click for more information.	Floodway Building Count by County Floodway Building Count by County (Percent Rank Classification) Floodway Building Ratio by County
Building Floodplain Ratio	4.3% of floodplain buildings to total buildings.	Click for more information.	Floodplain Building Ratio by County
Building Density	0.22 buildings/acre density in floodplain.	Click for more information.	Building Density in SFHA by County
Building Median Value	$26,000 median building value in floodplain.	Click for more information.	Building Exposure Low Values <= $10K by County
Bldg. Mobile Homes Ratio	30.2% of single-family dwellings in floodplain are manufactured homes.	Click for more information.	Mobile Homes Ratio by County
Bldg. Subgrade Basements Ratio	14.8% of floodplain buildings have subgrade basements.	Click for more information.	Building Subgrade Basement Ratio by County Building Subgrade Basement Ratio by County (Percent Rank)
Building 1-Story Ratio	93.2% of floodplain buildings have only one story.	Click for more information.	Building One-Story Ratio by County Building One-Story Ratio by County (Percent Rank)
Bldg. Year Pre-FIRM Ratio	80.0% of floodplain buildings are Pre-FIRM or built with no FIRM in effect.	Click for more information.	Building Year Pre-FIRM Ratio by County Building Year Pre-FIRM Ratio by County (Percent Rank)
Bldg. Year Minus Rated Post-FIRM Ratio	4.7% of floodplain buildings are Post-FIRM with lowest floor below BFE.	Click for more information.	Building Year Post-FIRM Minus-Rated Building Ratio by County Building Year Post-FIRM Minus-Rated Building Ratio by County (Percent Rank)
Essential Facilities	12 essential facilities in moderate and high risk floodplains.	Click for more information.	Essential Facilities in High-Moderate Risk Floodplain by County
Roads Inundated Ratio	5.5% of roads flooded by a 1% annual chance (100-yr) major flood.	Click for more information.	Roads Inundated Ratio for 1% Flood by County
Community Assets Historical	1 historical assets in floodplain.	Click for more information.	Historical Community Assets Density Statewide
Community Assets Non-Historical	73 non-historical assets in floodplain.	Click for more information.	Non-Historical Community Assets Count by Community
Bldg. Substantial Damage Count	189 bldgs. substantially damaged by a 1% annual chance (100-yr) flood.	Click for more information.	Building Substantial Damage Debris Removal Estimates by County (1% Flood) Building Substantial Damage Count by County (1% Flood) Building Substantial Damage Count by County (1% Flood) (Percent Rank)
Bldg. Substantial Damage Ratio	9.7% of buildings in floodplain substantially damaged by major storm.	Click for more information.	Building Substantial Damage to Total SFHA Structures Ratio by County (1% Flood) Building Substantial Damage to Total SFHA Structures Ratio by County (1% Flood) (Percent Rank)
Bldg. Previous Damage Claims	444 buildings have prior damage claims.	Click for more information.	Building Damage Claims Number by County (Natural Break) Building Damage Claims Number by County (Percent Rank)
Bldg. Repetitive Loss Structures	134 repetitive loss structures.	Click for more information.
Population in Floodplain Ratio	5.6% of the population resides in a high-risk flood zone.	Click for more information.	Population Ratio by County Population Ratio by County (Percent Rank)
Population Displaced Ratio	3.7% of population displaced by a 1% annual chance (100-yr) flood event.	Click for more information.	Population Estimated Requiring Short-Term Shelter by County (1% Flood)
WV Social Vulnerability Index	64.8% index score of WV Social Vulnerability.	Click for more information.	Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) by County (Percent Rank) CDC SVI by County
Cumulative Index	68.5% cumulative risk index score.	Click for more information.	Cumulative Risk Index by County

Flood Risk Index Scores for Raleigh County

Table 2. Flood Risk Index Scores: A Cumulative Flood Risk Index of 25 flood factors reveals that Raleigh County ranks 18th of 55 counties in the state with a Cumulative Flood Risk Score of 68.5%. Below are all 25 flood risk indicators used in the risk index with the indicator scores and rankings.

Category	Flood Risk Indicator	Value for Raleigh	Indicator Score (0 - 100%)	Indicator Rating
Floodplain Characteristics	Floodplain Area Click for more information.	8,959 Acres	61.1%	Relatively High
	Floodplain Length Click for more information.	399.8 Miles	81.4%	Very High
	Flood Declared Disasters Click for more information.	20	85.1%	Very High
	Flood Depth Median Click for more information.	1.9 Ft	31.4%	Relatively Low
	Floodplain Characteristics Index, 13th		77.7%	Relatively High
Building Exposure	Building Floodplain Count Click for more information.	1,945	79.6%	Relatively High
	Building Floodway Count Click for more information.	11	25.9%	Relatively Low
	Building Floodplain Ratio Click for more information.	4.3%	25.9%	Relatively Low
	Building Density Click for more information.	0.22 /Acre	72.2%	Relatively High
	Building Exposure Index, 26th		53.7%	Moderate
Building Characteristics	Building Median Value Click for more information.	$26,000	7.4%	Very Low
	Bldg. Mobile Homes Ratio Click for more information.	30.2%	74.0%	Relatively High
	Bldg. Subgrade Basements Ratio Click for more information.	14.8%	12.9%	Very Low
	Building 1-Story Ratio Click for more information.	93.2%	88.8%	Very High
	Bldg. Year Pre-FIRM Ratio Click for more information.	80.0%	50.0%	Moderate
	Bldg. Year Minus Rated Post-FIRM Ratio Click for more information.	4.7%	51.8%	Moderate
	Building Characteristics Index, 35th		37.0%	Relatively Low
Critical Infrastructure	Essential Facilities Click for more information.	12	83.3%	Very High
	Roads Inundated Ratio Click for more information.	5.5%	44.4%	Moderate
	Critical Infrastructure Index, 18th		68.5%	Relatively High
Community Assets	Community Assets Historical Click for more information.	1	12.9%	Very Low
	Community Assets Non-Historical Click for more information.	73	88.8%	Very High
	Community Assets Index, 25th		55.5%	Moderate
Building Damage Loss	Bldg. Substantial Damage Count Click for more information.	189	83.3%	Very High
	Bldg. Substantial Damage Ratio Click for more information.	9.7%	70.3%	Relatively High
	Bldg. Previous Damage Claims Click for more information.	444	66.6%	Relatively High
	Bldg. Repetitive Loss Structures Click for more information.	134	53.7%	Moderate
	Building Damage Loss Index, 15th		74.0%	Relatively High
People / Social Vulnerabilities	Population in Floodplain Ratio Click for more information.	5.6%	14.8%	Very Low
	Population Displaced Ratio Click for more information.	3.7%	24.0%	Relatively Low
	WV Social Vulnerability Index Click for more information.	-	64.8%	Relatively High
	People / Social Vulnerabilities Index, 40th		27.7%	Relatively Low
Risk Index	Cumulative Index Click for more information.		68.5%	Relatively High

Risk Index Legend

VERY HIGH: 90% - 100%

Very High: 80% - 100%

Relatively High: 60% - 79.9%

Moderate: 40% - 59.9%

Relatively Low: 20% - 39.9%

Very Low: 0% - 19.9%

Flood Risk Indicators of Raleigh County Compared to Other Counties

Table 3. Flood Risk Index Comparison: Flood risk indicator values for Raleigh County compared to descriptive statistics of all counties.

Category	Flood Risk Indicator	Value for Raleigh	Median Value	Mean Value	Min Value	Max Value	State Stats
Floodplain Characteristics	Floodplain Area Click for more information.	8,959 Acres	8,085 Acres	9,612 Acres	1,528 Acres	26,607 Acres	528,635 Acres
	Floodplain Length Click for more information.	399.8 Miles	303.9 Miles	312.8 Miles	75.3 Miles	911.2 Miles	17,205.1 Miles
	Flood Declared Disasters Click for more information.	20	16	16	9	28	64
	Flood Depth Median Click for more information.	1.9 Ft	2.1 Ft	2.4 Ft	0.9 Ft	5.1 Ft	1.8 Ft

Building Exposure	Building Floodplain Count Click for more information.	1,945	939	1,498	300	13,452	82,408
	Building Floodway Count Click for more information.	11	67	150	0	1,462	8,237
	Building Floodplain Ratio Click for more information.	4.3%	5.9%	7.9%	0.8%	24.5%	7.4%
	Building Density Click for more information.	0.22 /Acre	0.1 /Acre	0.19 /Acre	0.02 /Acre	1.12 /Acre	0.16 /Acre

Building Characteristics	Building Median Value Click for more information.	$26,000	$42,200	$42,023	$14,000	$97,450	$38,200
	Bldg. Mobile Homes Ratio Click for more information.	30.2%	25.8%	25.9%	4.0%	53.3%	27.5%
	Bldg. Subgrade Basements Ratio Click for more information.	14.8%	21.6%	25.1%	10.4%	71.7%	24.8%
	Building 1-Story Ratio Click for more information.	93.2%	84.0%	82.4%	39.4%	94.9%	84.0%
	Bldg. Year Pre-FIRM Ratio Click for more information.	80.0%	80.0%	77.8%	57.3%	92.9%	77.5%
	Bldg. Year Minus Rated Post-FIRM Ratio Click for more information.	4.7%	4.6%	6.4%	1.0%	23.0%	5.8%

Critical Infrastructure	Essential Facilities Click for more information.	12	5	9	0	80	489
	Roads Inundated Ratio Click for more information.	5.5%	5.7%	6.8%	2.6%	19.2%	6.7%

Community Assets	Community Assets Historical Click for more information.	1	7	50	0	1,263	2,758
	Community Assets Non-Historical Click for more information.	73	27	38	8	261	2,092

Building Damage Loss	Bldg. Substantial Damage Count Click for more information.	189	80	118	4	975	6,493
	Bldg. Substantial Damage Ratio Click for more information.	9.7%	6.1%	9.0%	1.2%	33.4%	7.9%
	Bldg. Previous Damage Claims Click for more information.	444	350	507	34	3,044	27,882
	Bldg. Repetitive Loss Structures Click for more information.	134	127	176	5	1,547	9,698

People / Social Vulnerabilities	Population in Floodplain Ratio Click for more information.	5.6%	10.6%	14.0%	1.0%	45.0%	11.0%
	Population Displaced Ratio Click for more information.	3.7%	5.5%	8.2%	0.6%	30.4%	6.6%
	WV Social Vulnerability Index Click for more information.	64.8%	50.0%	50.0%	0.0%	100.0%	-

General Information Statistics for Raleigh County

Table 4. General Information and comparison statistics for Raleigh County.

	Total Area (ACRES)	Total Structures	Total Population	Population Density (/SQ MILE)	Number of Households	Average Household Size

Raleigh County	389,453	45,241	74,929	123.1	30,033	2.4

STATE STATS	15,500,454	1,118,761	1,801,049	74.4	711,352	2.5
COUNTIES STATS:
Median	269,049	16,115	22,603	47.0	7,912	2.6
Mean	281,826	20,341	32,746	93.5	12,934	2.6
Minimum	56,402 (Hancock)	3,954 (Calhoun)	5,264 (Wirt)	8.5 (Pocahontas)	2,081 (Wirt)	2.2 (Brooke)
Maximum	665,171 (Randolph)	100,457 (Kanawha)	181,953 (Kanawha)	389.9 (Ohio)	76,919 (Kanawha)	3.1 (Doddridge)

Risk Indicator data last updated August 2024