Natural hazards · Pullman

Pullman, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pullman comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 24 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 Pullman?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pullman to be higher than in 25% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding54%Cold waves31%Heat waves9%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Pullman 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 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

31% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

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 Pullman flood?

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

24paid claims since 1979

$183Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (3) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Whitman County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Pullman

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PullmanDeclared for Whitman County only

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$65K to the City of Pullman for repairs

Whitman County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

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. Pullman covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pullman’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Pullman. 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 Pullman total about $2.4M 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.