Wirt County, WV flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Wirt County sits at the 35.5th 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 once every 1 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Out of 351 homes FEMA counts inside Wirt County's mapped flood zone, 11 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 3.1% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Wirt County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Wirt County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Wirt County ranks 2091 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2825 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Wirt County, West Virginia is home to about 4,924 people across 232.511 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Wirt County
FEMA counts 2,896 residential structures in Wirt County overall, 15 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Wirt 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.