Natural hazards · Pendleton

Pendleton, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pendleton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 13 claims here since 1978. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pendleton?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pendleton to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding65%Cold waves20%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Pendleton faces

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

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Pendleton flood?

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

13paid claims since 1978

$88Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Pendleton 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Pendleton

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PendletonDeclared for Umatilla County only

2020

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

174 households applied for aid $1.5M aid approved $623K to the City of Pendleton for repairs

2019

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$347K to the City of Pendleton for repairs

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. Pendleton covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pendleton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Pendleton. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Pendleton total about $3.0M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.