Natural hazards · Mitchell

Mitchell, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mitchell comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mitchell?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mitchell to be higher than in 94% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding41%Wildfire29%Lightning27%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Mitchell faces

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

Inland flooding

41% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

29% of expected damage

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

Lightning

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% 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 Mitchell flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wheeler County.

Disasters that hit Mitchell

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MitchellDeclared for Wheeler County only

2019

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$253K to the City of Mitchell for repairs

Wheeler County has had 12 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. Mitchell 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 Mitchell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mitchell. 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.