Storms, floods and disasters in Salt Rock
Salt Rock isn’t graded for hazard risk: Salt Rock has 274 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Salt Rock faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Salt Rock flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Salt Rock. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Salt Rock isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cabell County.6 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Salt Rock
Disasters that paid out in Salt Rock itself (aid to households or repair grants to Salt Rock), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2021Severe Storms and Flooding17 households applied for aid$130K aid approved
- 2012Severe Storms and Straight-line Winds4 households applied for aid$8K aid approved
- 2004Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides4 households applied for aid$11K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides3 households applied for aid$7K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides3 households applied for aid$7K aid approved
- 2003Severe Winter Storm, Record/near Record Snow, Heavy Rains, Flooding and Landslides24 households applied for aid$176K aid approved
Cabell County has had 25 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Cabell County, 2001–2001.
Old photos of Salt Rock after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Salt Rock archive →Get ready for what Salt Rock faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Salt Rock
Is Salt Rock in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Cabell County, 14% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Salt Rock?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Salt Rock’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Salt Rock?
By FEMA money that reached Salt Rock, Severe Winter Storm, Record/near Record Snow, Heavy Rains, Flooding and Landslides (2003): 24 households applied for aid, $176K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Salt Rock.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Salt Rock’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.