67 flood insurance claims·$469,534 paid·7 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Siskiyou County, California. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Siskiyou County, supported by 20 flash flood events and 17 general flood events over the last 30 years, including one recorded flood fatality. Recent events highlight these distinct hazards, such as an August 2022 thunderstorm producing heavy rainfall over the McKinney wildfire burn scar that generated a debris flow down Humbug Creek, sweeping vehicles off a culvert and resulting in one injury. Another August 2022 event combined heavy precipitation with glacial melt from the Whitney Glacier on Mount Shasta, sending a debris flow down Whitney Creek and causing the temporary closure of US97.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A bear the heaviest financial and physical impacts, accounting for 44 claims with an average payout of $15,605 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. By contrast, properties in Zone UNKNOWN, Zone X_SHADED, Zone X_UNSHADED, and Zone X recorded significantly fewer claims and lower average water depths ranging from zero to one inch. Homeowners, journalists, and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and those situated near burn scars, creeks, and glacial drainage paths susceptible to sudden flash flooding and debris flows.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
21% of Siskiyou County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
56 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 11 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1997, with 28 claims and $387,620 paid.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
1 NOAA storm reports from Siskiyou County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Hilary | Aug 19, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 27, 2022 |
| Mill Fire | Sep 2, 2022 |
| Lava Fire | Jun 24, 2021 |
| Slater Fire | Sep 8, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Sep 4, 2020 |
| Klamathon Fire | Jul 5, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Feb 1, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
37 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 17 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 10, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Feb 9, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Jan 8, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Feb 8, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2023. Downpours from a slow moving thunderstorm created flash flooding on Humbug Creek Road in north central Siskiyou County. This area is part of the McKinney burn scar.
Flash Flood · Aug 2, 2022. Thunderstorms with very heavy rain moved through an area near the McKinney wildfire in the evening. Rainfall was estimated to be between 1 and 3 inches in an hour. This created a debris flow down Humbug Creek, on the eastern edge of the fire. Four vehicles were reported swept off a culvert over Humbug Creek, and videos showed the swiftly rising water in the area. One person had to be rescued from a partially su…
Flash Flood · Aug 2, 2022. Heavy convective precipitation combined with glacial melt from the Whitney Glacier on Mount Shasta to create a debris flow down Whitney Creek, downstream from the Lava Fire scar. This resulted in the closure of US97 between 1700 PDT and 2100 PDT.
Flood · Feb 10, 2017. Heavy rain combined with snow melt led to flooding in Siskiyou county in northern California.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Siskiyou County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.