Natural hazards · Ahtanum

Ahtanum, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ahtanum comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 2016.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ahtanum?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ahtanum to be higher than in 79% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding32%Earthquakes28%Wildfire24%Cold waves11%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Ahtanum faces

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

28% of expected damage

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

Wildfire

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Ahtanum flood?

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

4paid claims since 2016

$82Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20162026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yakima County.

Disasters that hit Ahtanum

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Yakima County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Ahtanum itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into AhtanumDeclared for Yakima County only

Yakima County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Ahtanum

Ahtanum and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ahtanummostly inland floodingHigh

Union Gapmostly earthquakesModerate

Yakimamostly inland floodingVery low

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. Ahtanum covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Ahtanum’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Ahtanum. 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 Ahtanum total about $3.6M 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.