Disaster Data / States / West Virginia / Kanawha County
CountyKanawha County recorded 19 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 6 emergency declarations and 1 fire management declarations, 26 in all. Its most common hazard is severe storm.
Highlighted: Kanawha County, WV
Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
The federal disaster record for Kanawha County runs between 2000 and 2026, covering 26 declarations in complete fiscal years, plus 1 so far in FY2027. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Severe Storms And Flooding in 2026. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, flood, and hurricane. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $66.8 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for emergency protective measures.
Past 12 months
Kanawha County has been named in 2 federal declarations in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Kanawha County to date and grow as recovery continues. The one made since Oct 1, 2026 is from FY2027, so it is added to the complete-year totals above after that year ends on Sep 30, 2027.
| Declaration | Declared | Households approved | Individual Assistance | Public Assistance obligated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR-4953-WVMajor disaster · Severe Storm | Oct 7, 2026Incident period Aug 14 to 18, 2026 | 89of 157 registered | $882K | None reported yet |
| EM-3639-WVEmergency · Winter Storm | Jan 24, 2026Incident period Jan 23 to 27, 2026 | None reported | None reported | None reported yet |
DR-4953-WV has approved 89 households for assistance so far, the 11th most of any Kanawha County disaster in FEMA's household assistance data, which begins in 2002. The most was DR-4273-WV in 2016, with 1,389. COVID-19 funeral assistance is left out of this comparison. Kanawha County's 89 households are 52% of the 172 approved across West Virginia under DR-4953-WV.
Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile, with the same figures for every place it covers.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 53.4% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.
Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation
The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation
$67M has been obligated to Kanawha County in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$43M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $612K followed emergency declarations, which cover debris removal and emergency protective work only. $22M, or 32% of the total, was COVID-19, which every county in the country received. $1M appears in FEMA's county totals but is not tied to a single declaration in the obligation timing file, so it is left unattributed here rather than assigned to a type.
Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.
Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.
| Category | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency protective measures(B) | 183 | $42,581,301 |
| Buildings and equipment(E) | 40 | $8,612,249 |
| Debris removal(A) | 32 | $5,153,209 |
| Utilities(F) | 56 | $3,924,566 |
| Parks and recreation(G) | 8 | $3,667,761 |
| Roads and bridges(C) | 62 | $2,542,804 |
| Management costs(Z) | 11 | $340,611 |
| All categories | 392 | $66,822,501 |
For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 11-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 185 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.
FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.
| Assistance type | Approved amount |
|---|---|
| Repair and replacement | $20,903,366 |
| Rental assistance | $3,061,563 |
| Other needs | $10,571,589 |
Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.
| Program | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP) | 65 | $22,296,516 |
| Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation(LPDM) | 3 | $3,922,700 |
| Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA) | 1 | $1,333,407 |
| Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM) | 1 | $931,417 |
| Severe Repetitive Loss(SRL) | 1 | $100,772 |
Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.
Archive coverage for West Virginia: 2025-present Governor news archive; pre-2025 emergency proclamations backfill pending
Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.
Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.
Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.
Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.
The totals above count complete fiscal years only. This list also includes one declaration made since Oct 1, 2026 (FY2027); it is added to the totals after that year ends on Sep 30, 2027.
Showing 27 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 2026 | DR-4953-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Jan 24, 2026 | EM-3639-WV | EM | Winter Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| May 24, 2024 | DR-4787-WV | DR | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides |
| May 22, 2024 | DR-4783-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides |
| Jan 30, 2024 | DR-4756-WV | DR | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides |
| May 20, 2021 | DR-4605-WV | DR | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Apr 3, 2020 | DR-4517-WV | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3450-WV | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Jun 25, 2016 | DR-4273-WV | DR | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides |
| Mar 31, 2015 | DR-4210-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides |
| Jan 10, 2014 | EM-3366-WV | EM | Chemical | Chemical Spill |
| Nov 27, 2012 | DR-4093-WV | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy |
| Oct 29, 2012 | EM-3358-WV | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy |
| Jul 23, 2012 | DR-4071-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds |
| Jun 30, 2012 | EM-3345-WV | EM | Severe Storm | Severe Storms |
| Mar 29, 2010 | DR-1893-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Landslides |
| Mar 2, 2010 | DR-1881-WV | DR | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm |
| Sep 5, 2005 | EM-3221-WV | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| Sep 20, 2004 | DR-1558-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides |
| Jun 7, 2004 | DR-1522-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides |
| Nov 21, 2003 | DR-1500-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides |
| Jun 21, 2003 | DR-1474-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides |
| Mar 14, 2003 | DR-1455-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm, Record/Near Record Snow, Heavy Rains, Flooding And Landslides |
| May 5, 2002 | DR-1410-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding And Landslides |
| Nov 16, 2001 | FM-2391-WV | FM | Fire | Wv - Southeast Fire Complex - 11/16/2001 |
| Jun 3, 2001 | DR-1378-WV | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding And Landslides |
| Feb 28, 2000 | DR-1319-WV | DR | Flood | Flooding, Severe Storms, And Landslides |
Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to West Virginia's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.
Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.