Natural hazards · Wapato

Wapato, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wapato comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1996.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wapato?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wapato to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes51%Inland flooding38%Cold waves7%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Wapato faces

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

Earthquakes

51% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% 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 wavesWildfireStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesLandslidesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Wapato flood?

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

7paid claims since 1996

$30Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Wapato 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 Wapato

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Yakima County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Wapato itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into WapatoDeclared for Yakima County only

Yakima County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Wapato covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wapato’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Wapato. 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 Wapato total about $4.0M 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.