Natural hazards · Reader

Reader, WV natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Reader comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Reader?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Reader to be higher than in 99% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding95%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Reader 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 once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamisVolcanic 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 Reader flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wetzel County.

Disasters that hit Reader

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ReaderDeclared for Wetzel County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Mudslides, and

1 household applied for aid $5K aid approved

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides

43 households applied for aid $231K aid approved

Wetzel County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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