Natural hazards · Lake Tapps

Lake Tapps, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lake Tapps comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2009. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lake Tapps?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lake Tapps to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes47%Inland flooding34%Cold waves13%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Lake Tapps 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 89% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Lake Tapps flood?

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

1paid claims since 2009

$7Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20092026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Lake Tapps 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 Lake Tapps

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Lake TappsDeclared for Pierce County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

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

Around Lake Tapps

Lake Tapps and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Sumnermostly earthquakesVery high

Auburnmostly earthquakesVery high

Lake Tappsmostly earthquakesModerate

Bonney Lakemostly earthquakesModerate

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. Lake Tapps covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Lake Tapps’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Lake Tapps. 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 Lake Tapps total about $3.8M 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.