Natural hazards · Fox Island

Fox Island, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fox Island comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 2012. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fox Island?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fox Island to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes47%Inland flooding38%Coastal flooding9%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Fox Island faces

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

Earthquakes

47% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Coastal flooding

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesCold wavesDroughtAvalanches

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 Fox Island flood?

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

5paid claims since 2012

$220Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20122026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Fox Island 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 Fox Island

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Fox IslandDeclared for Pierce County only

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid

Pierce County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Fox Island

Fox Island and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Tacomamostly earthquakesHigh

Fox Islandmostly earthquakesHigh

Artondalemostly 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. Fox Island covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fox Island’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fox Island. 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 Fox Island total about $1.8M 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.