Natural hazards · Damascus

Damascus, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Damascus comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 20 claims here since 1995. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Damascus?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Damascus to be higher than in 57% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding53%Earthquakes29%Cold waves9%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Damascus faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Damascus flood?

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

20paid claims since 1995

$794Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19952026

Biggest named events

Winter storm: 1 claim, $5K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Clackamas County.

Disasters that hit Damascus

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DamascusDeclared for Clackamas County only

2020

Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds

21 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

Clackamas County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Damascus

Damascus and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Damascusmostly inland floodingModerate

Boringmostly inland floodingModerate

Happy Valleymostly inland floodingLow

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. Damascus covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Damascus’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Damascus. 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 Damascus total about $5.4M 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.