Natural hazards · Vaughn

Vaughn, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Vaughn comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Vaughn?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Vaughn to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes59%Inland flooding36%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Vaughn faces

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

Earthquakes

59% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesCold wavesDroughtAvalanches

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 Vaughn flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pierce County.

Disasters that hit Vaughn

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into VaughnDeclared for Pierce County only

2025

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

1 household applied for aid

2009

Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Pierce County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Vaughn

Vaughn and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Grapeviewmostly earthquakesVery high

Vaughnmostly earthquakesVery high

Key Centermostly earthquakesVery high

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