Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Whitesville
Whitesville isn’t graded for hazard risk: Whitesville has 266 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 1978.
What Whitesville 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 Whitesville flood? Rarely: 9 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Whitesville, from FEMA’s records.
Whitesville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Boone County.8 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Whitesville
Disasters that paid out in Whitesville itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Whitesville), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2025Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides3 households applied for aid$12K aid approved
- 2024Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides3 households applied for aid$6K aid approved
- 2012Severe Storms and Straight-line Winds11 households applied for aid$30K aid approved
- 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$3K to the Town of Whitesville for repairs
- 2004Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides2 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides18 households applied for aid$32K aid approved$5K to the Town of Whitesville for repairs
Show all 8
- 2003Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides$10K to the Town of Whitesville for repairs
- 2001Severe Storms, Flooding and Landslides$563K to the Town of Whitesville for repairs3 flood claims paid that year
Boone County has had 23 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 Boone County, 2001–2001.
Old photos of Whitesville after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Whitesville archive →Get ready for what Whitesville 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 Whitesville
Does Whitesville flood?
Flood insurance has paid 9 claims in Whitesville since 1978, $75K in all. 1 properties have flooded more than once.
Is Whitesville 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 Boone County, 5% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.5% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Whitesville?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Whitesville’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 Whitesville?
By FEMA money that reached Whitesville, Severe Storms, Flooding and Landslides (2001): $563K to the Town of Whitesville for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Whitesville.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Whitesville’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.