Natural hazards · Rufus

Rufus, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rufus comes from wildfires, 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 Rufus?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rufus to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire58%Inland flooding27%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Rufus faces

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

Wildfire

58% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 28 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic 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 Rufus flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sherman County.

Disasters that hit Rufus

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RufusDeclared for Sherman County only

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$5K to the City of Rufus for repairs

Sherman County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. Rufus 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 Rufus’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rufus. 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.