137 flood insurance claims·$1.7M paid·6 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 Linn 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.
22% of Linn County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
116 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 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 1996, with 75 claims and $690,814 paid, the year of High Winds, Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms and High Winds.
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.
4 NOAA storm reports from Linn County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oregon flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jan 10, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Wildfires | Sep 8, 2020 |
| Beachie Creek Lionshead Fire Complex | Sep 7, 2020 |
| Wildfires And Straight-line Winds | Sep 7, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 6, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 6, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 6, 2014 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
9 since 1996: 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 17, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Apr 10, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 8, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jan 19, 2012 | $1.0M |
| Flood | Jan 19, 2012 | — |
| Flood | Jan 18, 2012 | — · 2 killed |
| Flood | Jan 17, 2006 | — |
| Flood | Dec 28, 2005 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 17, 2020. An eastward-moving upper level trough and associated area of surface low pressure moved across northwest Oregon and southwest Washington September 17-18, resulting in fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms beginning late in the afternoon of the 17th through most of the day on the 18th. One severe thunderstorm developed southeast of Salem, OR during the overnight hours of Sept. 17-18, and moved northward acro…
Flood · Apr 10, 2019. A particularly strong atmospheric river took aim for the south Willamette Valley, sitting over areas south of Salem for two days, producing anywhere from 2.5 to 5 inches of rain over a 48 hour period. Some areas in the Cascades and Cascade Foothills saw 5 to 7 inches of rain over that 48 hour period. Heavy rain combined with snow melt from all the snow from a few weeks prior in this same area caused flooding alo…
Flood · Apr 8, 2019. A particularly strong atmospheric river took aim for the south Willamette Valley, sitting over areas south of Salem for two days, producing anywhere from 2.5 to 5 inches of rain over a 48 hour period. Some areas in the Cascades and Cascade Foothills saw 5 to 7 inches of rain over that 48 hour period. Heavy rain combined with snow melt from all the snow from a few weeks prior in this same area caused flooding alo…
Flood · Jan 19, 2012. With a cold air mass in place over the Pacific Northwest, two strong and very moist Pacific weather systems brought widespread heavy rains to the Willamette Valley flooding many urban and small streams.
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 Linn 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.