Natural hazards · Brewster

Brewster, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brewster comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2008. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brewster?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brewster to be higher than in 93% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding52%Wildfire17%Avalanches15%Cold waves7%Earthquakes5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Brewster faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

17% of expected damage

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

Avalanches

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic 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 Brewster flood?

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

1paid claims since 2008

$5Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20082026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Okanogan County.

Disasters that hit Brewster

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BrewsterDeclared for Okanogan County only

2014

Wildfires

$123K to the City of Brewster for repairs

Okanogan County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

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. Brewster 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 Brewster’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Brewster. 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.