States › West Virginia › 1978
West Virginia, 1978
The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.
NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders.
Events by hazard
Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1978 was 11 against 22 in 1977.
Counties with the most recorded events
| County | Events in 1978 |
|---|---|
| Kanawha County | 3 |
| Harrison County | 2 |
| Berkeley County | 1 |
| Lewis County | 1 |
| Monongalia County | 1 |
| Ohio County | 1 |
| Putnam County | 1 |
| Upshur County | 1 |
Notable events
| Date | County | Event type | Magnitude | Property damage | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Dec 1978 | Putnam | Tornado | F0 | $25,000 | — | 1 |
| 27 Jun 1978 | Lewis | Tornado | F1 | $250,000 | — | — |
| 10 Jul 1978 | Harrison | Tornado | F0 | $30 | — | — |
Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.
Federal disaster declarations in 1978
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Dec 1978 | DR-569 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | 5 |
Flood insurance claims with a 1978 date of loss
1,986 NFIP claims, 1,682 of them paid, for $7,143,799.
Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.