Pocahontas County, WV flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Pocahontas County sits at the 54.2th 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 1.4 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
16.3% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Pocahontas County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 84 policies against 515 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 2% of all residential structures in Pocahontas County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Pocahontas County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Pocahontas County ranks 1505 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2601 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Pocahontas County, West Virginia is home to about 7,653 people across 940.239 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Pocahontas County
Across all of Pocahontas County's 5,806 residential structures, 118 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Pocahontas 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.