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Risk & Response

Upshur County, WV

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 73.8 Relatively High

23,712
Population
5
Departments
5
Stations
6
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.09
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
31st highest of 55
Life Safety per 100k
0.38
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
33rd highest of 55
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$10.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
31st highest of 55
Property Loss per Resident
$436
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
41st highest of 55

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Upshur County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 51% of the life-safety total.

Upshur County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $10.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 55 West Virginia counties. Nationally, Upshur County ranks 2694th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2822nd for life safety per 100k residents, 1481st for property loss, and 1077th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Upshur County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Upshur County.

Talk to us about Upshur County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

89%
11%
Property (buildings): $10.3M (88.8%)
Life safety: $1.2M (10.5%)
Agriculture: $82K (0.7%)

Total expected annual loss: $11,640,972 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Cold Wave
$631K
Lightning
$241K
Inland Flooding
$116K
Strong Wind
$72K
Tornado
$50K
Landslide
$46K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$10.0M
Hail
$95K
Earthquake
$64K
Strong Wind
$64K
Hurricane
$47K
Tornado
$37K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Upshur County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

20%
80%
Combination: 20% (1)
Volunteer: 80% (4)
Residents per Station
4,742
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
21.1
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 5 departments registered in NERIS Public for Upshur County, WV. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Upshur County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 5 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Buckhannon Fire Department 19,071 $982.5K Relatively High 1
Adrian Volunteer Fire Department 2,914 $148.2K Relatively High 1
Banks District Volunteer Fire Department 2,069 $107.9K Relatively High 1
Washington District Volunteer Fire Company 1,739 $89.3K Relatively High 1
Selbyville Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 507 $26.4K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

19.2%
Poverty Rate
21.8%
Age 65+
15.5%
Disability Rate
6.3%
Uninsured
51.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
20.8%
Mobile Homes
15.3%
Vacancy Rate
6.6%
Wood Heat
$55,116
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

5
Last 10 Years
15
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo