Natural hazards · Merlin

Merlin, OR natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Merlin?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Merlin to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding49%Wildfire26%Earthquakes22%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Merlin faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

26% of expected damage

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

Earthquakes

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesCold wavesDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Merlin flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Josephine County.

Disasters that hit Merlin

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MerlinDeclared for Josephine County only

Josephine County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Merlin 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 Merlin’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Merlin. 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.