In West Virginia’s capital of Charleston, where about 50,000 people live in a wide, flat river valley, an intense storm has the potential to flood five of the city’s six hospitals at once.

At the largest hospital, as much as 5 feet of water could reach the emergency room. At the children’s hospital, the river could rise to cut off all exits. And at another hospital in the city center, more than 10 feet of flooding could besiege the facility on three sides.

These are some findings of a new KFF Health News investigation that examined nationwide hospital flood risk using data provided by Fathom, a company considered a leader in flood simulation. The investigation identified 171 hospitals, totaling nearly 30,000 patient beds from coast to coast, that face the greatest risk of significant or

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