Lewis County, WV flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Lewis County sits at the 69.1th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.6 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Lewis County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Lewis County's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 6.7% of them do — 50 active policies against 752 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.8% of all residential structures in Lewis County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Lewis County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Lewis County ranks 1014 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2005 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Lewis County, West Virginia is home to about 16,477 people across 386.932 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Lewis County
FEMA counts 8,593 residential structures in Lewis County overall, 68 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Lewis County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. If you're unsure why any of this insurance requirement exists at all, the SFHA explainer covers it from first principles.