Natural hazards · Durham

Durham, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Durham comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Durham?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Durham to be higher than in 70% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes54%Inland flooding40%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Durham 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 89% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Durham flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Durham.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Durham 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 Durham

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into DurhamDeclared for Washington County only

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

Around Durham

Durham and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Durhammostly earthquakesHigh

Tigardmostly earthquakesHigh

Tualatinmostly earthquakesModerate

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. Durham 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 Durham’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Durham. 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.