Natural hazards · Machias

Machias, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Machias comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1997.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Machias?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Machias to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding54%Earthquakes36%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Machias faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Earthquakes

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Machias flood?

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

7paid claims since 1997

$77Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Machias 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.

Disasters that hit Machias

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MachiasDeclared for Snohomish County only

Snohomish County has had 33 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Machias

Machias and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Machiasmostly inland floodingHigh

Cavaleromostly inland floodingHigh

Bunk Fossmostly inland floodingHigh

Lake Stevensmostly 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. Machias covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Machias’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Machias. 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 Machias total about $2.2M 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.