Natural hazards · Cornelius

Cornelius, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cornelius comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2007.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cornelius?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cornelius to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes54%Inland flooding32%Heat waves6%Cold waves5%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Cornelius faces

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

Earthquakes

54% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Cornelius flood?

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

3paid claims since 2007

$12Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20072026

Biggest named events

Winter storm: 1 claim, $4K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Cornelius

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Washington County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cornelius itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into CorneliusDeclared for Washington County only

Washington County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Cornelius is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

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

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.