Natural hazards · Tornado

Tornado, WV natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Tornado comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Tornado?

99
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding95%Everything else5%
By hazard

What Tornado 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 windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Tornado flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Tornado 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

3flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Tornado

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TornadoDeclared for Kanawha County only
2024

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

7 households applied for aid $28K aid approved
2024

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

3 households applied for aid $10K aid approved
2023

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid
2021

Severe Storms and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $45K aid approved
2012

Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds

7 households applied for aid $500 aid approved
2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides

8 households applied for aid $7K aid approved
2003

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides

19 households applied for aid $33K aid approved
2003

Severe Winter Storm, Record/Near Record Snow, Heavy Rains, Flooding and Landslides

1 household applied for aid $198 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. Tornado 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 Tornado’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Tornado. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01