Natural hazards · Brookings

Brookings, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brookings comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1996. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Brookings?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brookings to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes.

Earthquakes89%Inland flooding9%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Brookings faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Earthquakes

89% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

9% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamis

Not a risk here

HurricanesCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Brookings flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Brookings, from FEMA’s records.

4paid claims since 1996

$26Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Brookings isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Curry County.

Disasters that hit Brookings

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Brookings itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Brookings.

Brought FEMA money into BrookingsDeclared for Curry County only

2015

Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$51K to the City of Brookings for repairs

2011

Tsunami Wave Surge

$18K to the City of Brookings for repairs

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$23K to the City of Brookings for repairs

Curry County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Brookings covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Brookings’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Brookings. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Brookings total about $6.5M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.