Natural hazards · Malden

Malden, WV natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Malden comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Malden?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Malden to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding95%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Malden faces

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

Inland flooding

95% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Malden flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kanawha County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Malden

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MaldenDeclared for Kanawha County only

2016

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid $2K aid approved

2010

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

2 households applied for aid

2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides

8 households applied for aid $25K aid approved

Kanawha County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Malden

Malden and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Maldenmostly inland floodingVery high

Charlestonmostly inland floodingVery high

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. Malden 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 Malden’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Malden. 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.