Natural hazards · Phoenix

Phoenix, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Phoenix comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1997. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Phoenix?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Phoenix to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding58%Earthquakes34%Heat waves5%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Phoenix faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Earthquakes

34% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Phoenix flood?

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

2paid claims since 1997

$36Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jackson County.

Disasters that hit Phoenix

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PhoenixDeclared for Jackson County only

2020

Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds

933 households applied for aid $3.6M aid approved $1.4M to the City of Phoenix for repairs

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$6K to the City of Phoenix for repairs

Jackson County has had 17 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. Phoenix 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 Phoenix’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Phoenix. 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.