Natural hazards · Pinch

Pinch, WV natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pinch comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high 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 Pinch?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pinch to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding91%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Pinch faces

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

Inland flooding

91% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% 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 Pinch flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Pinch 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.

Disasters that hit Pinch

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PinchDeclared for Kanawha County only

2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides

9 households applied for aid $11K aid approved

Kanawha County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe 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. Pinch 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 Pinch’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Pinch. 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.