88 flood insurance claims·$1.3M paid·5 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 Curry County, Oregon. 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.
River flooding driven by heavy frontal systems dominates the flood profile of Curry County, Oregon. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last thirty years, standard floods make up the vast majority of local events at 65 occurrences, alongside single instances of storm surge, flash flooding, and coastal flooding. Recent events illustrate this pattern: a stalled frontal system produced heavy rain and widespread river flooding on March 16, 2025, while a similar series of storms caused minor flooding on the Rogue River near Agness on December 29, 2024. Additional heavy rainfall and snowmelt led to areal flooding and river rises in January and April of 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, indicating that risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 49 claims with an average payout of $20,178 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Zone X accounts for 27 claims averaging $34,100 with an average depth of 10 inches, while Zone X unshaded and Zone X shaded recorded 7 claims (averaging an 8,113-dollar payout and an average depth of 15 inches) and 5 claims (averaging a 9,526-dollar payout and an average depth of 52 inches), respectively. Property owners located near rivers and within mapped flood zones should pay the closest attention to these risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
20% of Curry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
61 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 13 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 2012, with 25 claims and $704,115 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides.
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 Curry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oregon flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 13, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 6, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 23, 2019 |
| Chetco Bar Fire | Aug 19, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 6, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jan 17, 2012 |
| Tsunami Wave Surge | Mar 11, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 1, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
68 since 1996: 1 flash floods, 65 river or area floods and 2 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Dec 29, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 25, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jan 20, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 8, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 7, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jan 19, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 16, 2025. The strongest of a series of frontal systems stalled over southern Oregon on 03/16. It produced heavy rain that caused numerous rivers in southwest Oregon to flood.
Flood · Dec 29, 2024. A long series of frontal systems brought heavy rain into southwest Oregon, which resulted in minor flooding on the Rogue River Near Agness.
Flood · Feb 25, 2019. Very heavy rain along with the melting of recent snowfall caused flooding at several locations in southern Oregon in late February.
Flood · Jan 20, 2019. A weekend of very heavy rain led to river rises across southern Oregon. The Rogue River at Agness exceeded flood stage on this day.
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 Curry 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.