Natural hazards · John Day

John Day, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in John Day comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is John Day?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in John Day to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding73%Wildfire15%Lightning7%Everything else6%

By hazard

What John Day faces

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

Inland flooding

73% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Wildfire

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lightning

7% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic 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 John Day flood?

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

7paid claims since 1979

$51Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Grant County.

Disasters that hit John Day

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in John Day itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of John Day.

Brought FEMA money into John DayDeclared for Grant County only

2019

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$1.1M to the City of John Day for repairs

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