Natural hazards · Friday Harbor

Friday Harbor, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Friday Harbor comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Friday Harbor?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Friday Harbor to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes60%Inland flooding33%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Friday Harbor faces

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

Earthquakes

60% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 28 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesDroughtAvalanches

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 Friday Harbor flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: San Juan County.

Disasters that hit Friday Harbor

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Friday Harbor itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Friday Harbor.

Brought FEMA money into Friday HarborDeclared for San Juan County only

2003

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $1K aid approved

San Juan County has had 10 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. Friday Harbor 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 Friday Harbor’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Friday Harbor. 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.