Natural hazards · Joseph

Joseph, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Joseph comes from inland flooding, 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 Joseph?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Joseph to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and avalanches.

Inland flooding40%Avalanches33%Wildfire20%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Joseph faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Avalanches

33% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Wildfire

20% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic activity

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 Joseph flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wallowa County.

Disasters that hit Joseph

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into JosephDeclared for Wallowa County only

Wallowa County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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