Natural hazards · St. John

St. John, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. John comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. John?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. John to be higher than in 64% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding72%Cold waves11%Everything else17%

By hazard

What St. John faces

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

Inland flooding

72% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 St. John flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. St. John 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.

Disasters that hit St. John

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in St. John itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of St. John.

Brought FEMA money into St. JohnDeclared for Whitman County only

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$7K to the Town of St. John 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. St. John 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 St. John’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of St. John. 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.