Walla Walla County, Washington: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Walla Walla County, Washington has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 60.4 out of 100, higher than about 60% of US counties, with earthquakes, ice storms and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $20 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 11 federal disaster declarations that included Walla Walla County since 1964, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4539-WA (Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 23 April 2020). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Walla Walla County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 62,555 Buildings worth $13 billion Area 1,312 sq mi Risk rank in Washington 27 of 39 FIPS 53071
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 90.6 | $5.4 million | about once every 203 years | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 89.4 | $829,873 | about once every 1.9 years | 37 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 83.5 | $569,954 | about once every 226 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 81.5 | $1.5 million | about 7.2 a year | 98 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 75.7 | $162,886 | about 9.2 a year | 174 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 69.6 | $5,461 | about once a year | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 64.8 | $10 million | about once every 1.6 years | 17 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 51.9 | $971,195 | about once every 2.5 years | 7.5 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 41.5 | $178,618 | about once every 3.1 years | 12 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 40.6 | $261 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 34.9 | $330,347 | about once every 3.0 years | 13 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 29.7 | $100,993 | about 11 a year | 32,908 strikes |
| Drought | Very Low | 23.5 | $8,692 | about 23 a year | 679 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 11.8 | $84,389 | about once every 23 years | 2 |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Hurricane | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | 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 11
Most common: Flood 4, Fire 2, Severe Storm 2, Coastal Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Flood |
| 1980s | 1 | Volcanic Eruption |
| 1990s | 2 | Severe Storm, Flood |
| 2000s | 4 | Severe Storm, Fire, Coastal Storm, Earthquake |
| 2010s | 2 | Flood, Fire |
| 2020s | 1 | Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Walla Walla 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 Storms, Land & Muds Slides,flooding (1997, DR-1159-WA): 38 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 5
| Tornadoes touching the county | 5 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×1 |
| Peak month | August (2) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 24 Apr 1958, F0, 45 mi path |
| Most recent | 24 Aug 1987, F0, 0.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Walla Walla County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walla Walla County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 60.4 | Earthquake |
| Columbia County | 44 km | Very Low | 8.6 | Wildfire |
| Franklin County | 47 km | Relatively Low | 72.5 | Heat wave |
| Umatilla County, OR | 74 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.3 | Wildfire |
| Garfield County | 75 km | Very Low | 1.6 | Wildfire |
| Benton County | 79 km | Relatively Moderate | 87.1 | Wildfire |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Washington, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 46.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 54.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.10 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $20 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 Walla Walla County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Washington · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- 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 Walla Walla County
What natural disasters is Walla Walla County, Washington most at risk from?
Walla Walla County, Washington has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 60.4 out of 100, higher than about 60% of US counties, with earthquakes, ice storms and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $20 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Walla Walla County had?
OpenFEMA lists 11 federal disaster declarations that included Walla Walla County since 1964, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4539-WA (Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 23 April 2020). Another 25 Washington declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Walla Walla County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Walla Walla 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.