Natural hazards · Nespelem

Nespelem, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Nespelem comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Nespelem?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Nespelem to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and avalanches.

Inland flooding40%Avalanches31%Wildfire19%Cold waves6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Nespelem faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Avalanches

31% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 0% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Wildfire

19% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Nespelem flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Okanogan County.

Disasters that hit Nespelem

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Nespelem itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Nespelem.

Brought FEMA money into NespelemDeclared for Okanogan County only

2012

Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$3K to the Town of Nespelem for repairs

Okanogan County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Nespelem 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 Nespelem’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Nespelem. 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.