Dufur’s biggest natural hazard is wildfire
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dufur comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1996.
What stands out about Dufur’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Dufur flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 1996
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Dufur, from FEMA’s records.
Dufur isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Wasco County.How exposed is Dufur?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 97% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.
Rated higher than 414 of the 425 Oregon towns we cover.
Dufur is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Dufur faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
Inland flooding
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Wasco County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Dufur itself in FEMA’s records.
Wasco County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.
Get ready for what Dufur actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in July–August
The month each of Wasco County’s 23 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Dufur’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Dufur.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Dufur.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.