Natural hazards · Elbe

Elbe, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elbe comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elbe?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elbe to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and inland flooding.

Avalanches67%Inland flooding18%Earthquakes9%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Elbe faces

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

Avalanches

67% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Earthquakes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Elbe flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pierce County.

Disasters that hit Elbe

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElbeDeclared for Pierce County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $365 aid approved

Pierce County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods 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. Elbe 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 Elbe’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Elbe. 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.