Natural hazards · Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Beacon Hill comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2015.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Beacon Hill?

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding38%Earthquakes27%Volcanic activity22%Heat waves7%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Beacon Hill faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

27% of expected damage

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

Volcanic activity

22% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Beacon Hill flood?

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

2paid claims since 2015

$239Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20152026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cowlitz County.

Disasters that hit Beacon Hill

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Beacon HillDeclared for Cowlitz County only

Cowlitz County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lexingtonmostly volcanic activityVery high

Beacon Hillmostly inland floodingHigh

Longview Heightsmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Beacon Hill covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Beacon Hill’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Beacon Hill. 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 Beacon Hill total about $1.7M 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.