Natural hazards · Selah

Selah, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Selah comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 36 claims here since 1980. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Selah?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Avalanches60%Inland flooding18%Earthquakes10%Cold waves6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Selah faces

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

Avalanches

60% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

10% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Selah flood?

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

36paid claims since 1980

$682Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

2025-12-AtmosphericRiver: 1 claim, $24K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yakima County.

Disasters that hit Selah

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SelahDeclared for Yakima County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

$15K to the City of Selah for repairs

Yakima County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Selah

Selah and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Selahmostly avalanchesLow

Yakimamostly inland floodingVery low

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. Selah covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Selah’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Selah. 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 Selah total about $5.0M 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.