Gold Bar’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Gold Bar comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1995. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Gold Bar’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Gold Bar flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 1995
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Gold Bar, from FEMA’s records.
Gold Bar isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Snohomish County.What Gold Bar faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Avalanches
Earthquakes
Landslides
How exposed is Gold Bar?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and avalanches.
Rated higher than 610 of the 639 Washington towns we cover.
Gold Bar is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
7 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Gold Bar
Disasters that paid out in Gold Bar itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Gold Bar) and its biggest flood years.
- 2025Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides8 households applied for aid$26K aid approved
- 2014Flooding and Mudslides34 households applied for aid
- 2009Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding7 households applied for aid$33K aid approved$860 to the City of Gold Bar for repairs
- 2008Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow$1K to the City of Gold Bar for repairs
- 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides2 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
- 2006Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides40 households applied for aid$187K aid approved
Show all 7
- 2003Severe Storms and Flooding2 households applied for aid$150 aid approved
Snohomish County has had 33 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Old photos of Gold Bar after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Gold Bar archive →Get ready for what Gold Bar actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Check the avalanche forecast before heading into the backcountry.
- Carry a beacon, probe and shovel, and know how to use them.
- Most avalanches are set off by the people caught in them.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Gold Bar and its neighbors
Gold Bar has the lowest rating of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in November–January
The month each of Snohomish County’s 33 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Gold Bar’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Gold Bar.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Gold Bar.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.