Natural hazards · Spokane

Spokane, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Spokane comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1990. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Spokane?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Spokane to be higher than in 7% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding53%Cold waves23%Heat waves8%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Spokane 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

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

8% 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 windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Spokane flood?

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

7paid claims since 1990

$102Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19902026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Spokane County.

Disasters that hit Spokane

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SpokaneDeclared for Spokane County only

2023

Wildfires

65 households applied for aid

2020

Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$2.6M to the City of Spokane for repairs

2015

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

$1.5M to the City of Spokane for repairs

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$1.5M to the City of Spokane for repairs

Spokane County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Spokane

Spokane and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Spokanemostly inland floodingVery low

Airway Heightsmostly inland floodingVery low

Spokane Valleymostly inland floodingVery low

Town and Countrymostly inland floodingVery low

Country Homesmostly 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. Spokane covers 58 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Spokane’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Spokane. 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 Spokane total about $34.2M 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.