Natural hazards · Port Townsend

Port Townsend, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Port Townsend comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Port Townsend?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Port Townsend to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes73%Inland flooding17%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Port Townsend faces

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

Earthquakes

73% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

17% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesAvalanches

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 Port Townsend flood?

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

4paid claims since 1979

$27Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jefferson County.

Disasters that hit Port Townsend

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Port Townsend itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Port Townsend.

Brought FEMA money into Port TownsendDeclared for Jefferson County only

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$12K to the City of Port Townsend for repairs

Jefferson County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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. Port Townsend covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Port Townsend’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Port Townsend. 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 Port Townsend total about $5.1M 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.