300 flood insurance claims·$3.9M paid·8 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 Douglas 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 stalled frontal systems and heavy rain dominates Douglas County, alongside occasional flash floods and rare coastal flooding. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last 30 years, the county experienced 63 flood events, three flash flood events, and one coastal flood event. A recent example occurred on March 16, 2025, when the strongest of a series of frontal systems stalled over southern Oregon, producing heavy rain that caused numerous rivers in southwest Oregon to flood.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that risk is concentrated primarily in high-risk riverine areas. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of claims with 235 filings, resulting in an average payout of $20,299 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Properties in shaded Zone X recorded 29 claims with an average payout of $6,817 and an average water depth of 12 inches, while unshaded Zone X recorded 26 claims with an average payout of $6,239 and an average water depth of 5 inches. Zone X recorded 7 claims with an average payout of $16,641 and an average water depth of 1 inch, and Zone UNKNOWN recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $0 and an average water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in Zone A and other mapped flood zones near rivers, given the frequency of river flooding produced by heavy rain and stalled frontal systems.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Douglas County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
290 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 10 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 1996, with 81 claims and $895,121 paid, the year of High Winds, Severe Storms and Flooding, Flooding, Land, Mud Slides, High Winds,severe Storms, Severe Storms and High Winds and Severe Winter Storms, Land and Mudslides, Flooding.
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.
27 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 13, 2025 |
| Archie Creek Fire | Sep 8, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Sep 8, 2020 |
| Wildfires And Straight-line Winds | Sep 7, 2020 |
| Mile Post 97 Fire | Jul 27, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 6, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 23, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 6, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
67 since 1996: 3 flash floods, 63 river or area floods and 1 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 24, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 8, 2019 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Feb 9, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Dec 14, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Dec 13, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Dec 21, 2014 | — |
— = 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 · Feb 24, 2019. Very heavy rain along with the melting of recent snowfall caused flooding at several locations in southern Oregon in late February.
Flood · Apr 8, 2019. Heavy rain (by April standards) combined with snowmelt caused a number of area rivers to flood.
Flood · Apr 8, 2019. Two days of very heavy rainfall (compared to April normals) combined with snowmelt led to areal flooding in southwest and south central Oregon.
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 Douglas 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.