Natural hazards · Forks

Forks, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Forks comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2021. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Forks?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Forks to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes76%Inland flooding23%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Forks faces

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

Earthquakes

76% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHailDroughtTsunamisVolcanic activity

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 Forks flood?

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

1paid claims since 2021

$158Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20212026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Clallam County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Forks

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ForksDeclared for Clallam County only

2021

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

67 households applied for aid $241K aid approved $188K to the City of Forks for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $7K to the City of Forks for repairs

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$4K to the City of Forks for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

119 households applied for aid $103K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms and Flooding

20 households applied for aid $39K aid approved

Clallam County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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