Wahkiakum County, Washington: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Wahkiakum County, Washington has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 19.3 out of 100, higher than about 19% of US counties, with landslides, earthquakes and coastal flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $6.0 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 31 federal disaster declarations that included Wahkiakum County since 1964, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4906-WA (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 7 April 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Wahkiakum County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Washington All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 4,415 Buildings worth $1.3 billion Area 290 sq mi Risk rank in Washington 36 of 39 FIPS 53069
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 80.6 | $14,028 | about 1.8 a year | — |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 75.2 | $977,145 | about once every 53 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 70.4 | $931,381 | about 4.4 a year | — |
| Volcanic activity | Very Low | 69.7 | $81 | about once every 98 years | 2 |
| Tsunami | Relatively Low | 58.5 | $2.0 million | about once every 7.9 years | 28 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 39.9 | $193,793 | about 3.1 a year | 48 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 17.6 | $1.8 million | about 1.4 a year | 38 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 16.5 | $9,487 | about once every 1.2 years | 56 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 12.2 | $3,437 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 8.3 | $5 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 6.5 | $28,703 | about once every 19 years | 0.9 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 3.9 | $10,626 | about once every 51 years | 0 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 3.4 | $15,973 | about once every 34 years | 2 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 2.7 | $1,397 | about 8.1 a year | 142 |
| Hail | Very Low | 1.3 | $1,133 | about once every 38 years | 1.1 |
| Lightning | Very Low | 0.8 | $2,454 | about 5.2 a year | 3,532 strikes |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Hurricane | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 31
Most common: Flood 14, Severe Storm 13, Coastal Storm 1, Earthquake 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Flood |
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood, Volcanic Eruption |
| 1990s | 6 | Flood ×3, Severe Storm ×2, Fishing Losses |
| 2000s | 8 | Severe Storm ×5, Flood, Coastal Storm, Earthquake |
| 2010s | 5 | Severe Storm ×3, Flood ×2 |
| 2020s | 7 | Flood ×4, Severe Storm ×3 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Wahkiakum County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3227-WA): 39 Washington counties designated.
- Volcanic Eruption, Mt. St. Helens (1980, DR-623-WA): 39 Washington counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow (2009, DR-1825-WA): 34 Washington counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Washington also had 25 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 0
No tornado in NOAA's Storm Prediction Center record touched Wahkiakum County between 1950 and 2025. That does not mean one cannot happen.
How Wahkiakum County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wahkiakum County (this page) | — | Very Low | 19.3 | Landslide |
| Pacific County | 36 km | Relatively Moderate | 92.7 | Tsunami |
| Clatsop County, OR | 38 km | Relatively High | 95.1 | Tsunami |
| Columbia County, OR | 47 km | Relatively Low | 70.7 | Earthquake |
| Cowlitz County | 58 km | Relatively Moderate | 90.3 | Volcanic activity |
| Thurston County | 83 km | Relatively High | 94.5 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Washington, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 60.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 40.0 |
| Community risk factor | 1.24 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $6.0 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Wahkiakum County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Washington · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Coastal flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Hurricanes and storms now
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Wahkiakum County
What natural disasters is Wahkiakum County, Washington most at risk from?
Wahkiakum County, Washington has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 19.3 out of 100, higher than about 19% of US counties, with landslides, earthquakes and coastal flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $6.0 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Wahkiakum County had?
OpenFEMA lists 31 federal disaster declarations that included Wahkiakum County since 1964, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4906-WA (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 7 April 2026). Another 25 Washington declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Wahkiakum County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Wahkiakum County from 1950 to 2025.
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.