Natural hazards · Helix

Helix, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Helix comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1994.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Helix?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Helix to be higher than in 54% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves18%Wildfire10%Drought8%Earthquakes7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Helix faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Wildfire

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamis

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 Helix flood?

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

1paid claims since 1994

$11Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19942026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Umatilla County.

Disasters that hit Helix

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HelixDeclared for Umatilla County only

Umatilla County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Helix 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 Helix’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Helix. 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.