Natural hazards · Maple Falls

Maple Falls, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Maple Falls comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Maple Falls?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Maple Falls to be higher than in 79% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and inland flooding.

Avalanches79%Inland flooding16%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Maple Falls faces

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

Avalanches

79% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Maple Falls flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Maple Falls.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Whatcom County.

Disasters that hit Maple Falls

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Maple FallsDeclared for Whatcom County only

2025

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid $4K aid approved

2021

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

24 households applied for aid $46K aid approved

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

Whatcom County has had 23 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. Maple Falls 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 Maple Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Maple Falls. 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.

Maple Falls, WA natural hazards

How exposed is Maple Falls?

What Maple Falls faces

Avalanches

Inland flooding

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Maple Falls flood?

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby