Natural hazards · Falling Waters

Falling Waters, WV natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Falling Waters comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Falling Waters?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Falling Waters to be higher than in 57% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding77%Hurricanes7%Strong wind5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Falling Waters faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

77% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Falling Waters flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Falling Waters.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Falling Waters isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Berkeley County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

61flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Falling Waters

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Falling Waters itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Falling Waters.

Brought FEMA money into Falling WatersDeclared for Berkeley County only

2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides

3 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

Berkeley County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Falling Waters is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Falling Waters’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Falling Waters. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.