12 flood insurance claims·$52,564 paid·3 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 Grant 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.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 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 3 claims and $38,096 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 Grant County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oregon flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Rail Ridge Fire | Sep 2, 2024 |
| Battle Mountain Fire Complex | Jul 21, 2024 |
| Boneyard Fire | Jul 20, 2024 |
| Falls Fire | Jul 18, 2024 |
| Wildfires | Jul 10, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 6, 2019 |
| Canyon Creek Fire Complex | Aug 14, 2015 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
13 since 1996: 5 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 3, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 20, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Apr 8, 2019 | $1.4M |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 22, 2013 | — |
| Flood | Jan 16, 2011 | — |
| Flood | May 15, 2011 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jan 3, 2025. Increased runoff and some snowmelt from the higher elevations around the southern John Day Basin resulted in rising river levels on the John Day river between John Day and Prairie City.
Flood · May 20, 2020. Heavy rain with QPF amounts of 2-4 inches across the Blue Mountains, Blue Mountain Foothills, and John Day Highlands produced areal and river flooding on May 20th and ending on May 21st. Most of the flooding was minor.
Flood · Apr 8, 2019. Snow water equivalents near 200% of normal in the Blue Mountains coupled with warm temperatures and near record rainfall totals for April produced significant river flooding across eastern Oregon.
Flash Flood · May 25, 2018. Persistent moist southwest flow continued into the 25th of May. Thunderstorms developed late morning and continued well into the evening. The storms produced locally heavy rain and some flooding. Also some hail occurred with the storms. The hail was mainly small, but did reach to 1 inch in diameter.
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 Grant 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.