Natural hazards · Rochester

Rochester, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rochester comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Rochester?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rochester to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding53%Earthquakes44%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Rochester faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Earthquakes

44% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Rochester flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Thurston County.

Disasters that hit Rochester

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RochesterDeclared for Thurston County only

2025

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

2 households applied for aid

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

23 households applied for aid $54K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

120 households applied for aid $479K aid approved

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

3 households applied for aid

Thurston County has had 26 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. Rochester 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 Rochester’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Rochester. 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.

Rochester, WA natural hazards

How exposed is Rochester?

What Rochester faces

Inland flooding

Earthquakes

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Rochester flood?

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby