Natural hazards · Ames Lake

Ames Lake, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ames Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ames Lake?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ames Lake to be higher than in 76% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding54%Earthquakes44%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Ames Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Earthquakes

44% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Ames Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: King County.

Disasters that hit Ames Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Ames LakeDeclared for King County only

King County has had 30 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Ames Lake

Ames Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ames Lakemostly inland floodingHigh

Union Hill-Novelty Hillmostly earthquakesHigh

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. Ames Lake 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 Ames Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Ames Lake. 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.