Natural hazards · Stanwood

Stanwood, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Stanwood comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 20 claims here since 1979. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Stanwood?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Earthquakes71%Inland flooding18%Coastal flooding6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Stanwood faces

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

Earthquakes

71% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 42% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Coastal flooding

6% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesDroughtAvalanches

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 Stanwood flood?

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

20paid claims since 1979

$340Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Torrential rain: 1 claim, $7K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Snohomish County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

7homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Stanwood

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into StanwoodDeclared for Snohomish County only

2025

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

10 households applied for aid $26K aid approved

2022

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

$50K to the City of Stanwood for repairs

2014

Flooding and Mudslides

5 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2012

Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$10K to the City of Stanwood for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

58 households applied for aid $71K aid approved $176K to the City of Stanwood for repairs

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$16K to the City of Stanwood for repairs

2006

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

2 households applied for aid $27K to the City of Stanwood for repairs

2003

Severe Storms and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $4K to the City of Stanwood for repairs

Snohomish County has had 33 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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. Stanwood 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 Stanwood’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Stanwood. 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.