Natural hazards · Yakima

Yakima, WA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Yakima comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1980. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Yakima?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Yakima to be higher than in 18% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding38%Earthquakes34%Cold waves18%Heat waves5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Yakima faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

34% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Yakima flood?

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

10paid claims since 1980

$238Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19802026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Yakima 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

2homes raised above flood level

2flood-prone homes bought out and moved

Disasters that hit Yakima

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into YakimaDeclared for Yakima County only

2008

Severe Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow

$82K to the City of Yakima for repairs

Yakima County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Yakima

Yakima and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ahtanummostly inland floodingHigh

Summitviewmostly inland floodingHigh

Union Gapmostly earthquakesModerate

Terrace Heightsmostly avalanchesModerate

Selahmostly avalanchesLow

Yakimamostly 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. Yakima covers 20 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Yakima’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Yakima. 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 Yakima total about $22.1M 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.