Natural hazards · La Grande

La Grande, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in La Grande comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is La Grande?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in La Grande 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 La Grande 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 La Grande flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. La Grande 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 La Grande

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Pierce County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching La Grande itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into La GrandeDeclared for Pierce County only

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. La Grande 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 La Grande’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to La Grande. 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.