Natural hazards · The Dalles

The Dalles, OR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in The Dalles comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1996. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is The Dalles?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in The Dalles to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding56%Earthquakes19%Wildfire10%Ice storms5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What The Dalles faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Earthquakes

19% of expected damage

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

Wildfire

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Ice storms

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesLandslidesStrong 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 The Dalles flood?

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

3paid claims since 1996

$36Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wasco County.

Disasters that hit The Dalles

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into The DallesDeclared for Wasco County only

2006

Severe Winter Storm and Flooding

$3K to the City of The Dalles for repairs

Wasco County has had 23 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. The Dalles covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to The Dalles’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of The Dalles. 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 The Dalles total about $6.7M 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.