183 flood insurance claims·$3.0M 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 Chelan County, Washington. 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 and standard riverine flooding dominate Chelan County, with NOAA Storm Events Database records showing 48 flash flood events and 28 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include a major atmospheric river event from December 8 through 10, 2025, which brought heavy rains and snowmelt to the Cascades, causing flooding and landslide incidents that forced the multi-week closure of US Highway 2.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims occur across multiple zones with varying severity. Zone A has the highest claim volume with 112 claims averaging a $21,982 payout and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in moderate-to-low risk zones also experience significant impacts; Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 33 claims with an average payout of $32,916 and an average water depth of 12 inches, Zone X recorded 22 claims with an average payout of $25,680 and an average water depth of 9 inches, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 9 claims with an average payout of $8,150 and an average water depth of 17 inches. An additional 7 claims were recorded in Zone UNKNOWN with an average payout of $8,643 and an average water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within high-risk Zone A, as well as those in Zone X variants where claims demonstrate that substantial water depths and high payouts still occur outside of designated special flood hazard areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
27% of Chelan County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
154 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 1995, with 39 claims and $433,475 paid, the year of Severe Storms, High Wind, and 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.
29 NOAA storm reports from Chelan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Washington flood stories →
51 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 9, 2025 |
| Lower Sugarloaf Fire | Sep 25, 2025 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Snowstorms, Straight-line Winds, Floodin | Dec 26, 2021 |
| Twentyfive Mile Fire | Aug 17, 2021 |
| Red Apple Fire | Jul 13, 2021 |
| Apple Acres Fire | Sep 7, 2020 |
| Cougar Creek Fire | Aug 10, 2018 |
| Spromberg Fire | May 23, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
76 since 1996: 48 flash floods and 28 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 10, 2025 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Dec 9, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Dec 8, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2024 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2023 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 20, 2023 | $500 |
| Flood | Jun 5, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 5, 2022 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 10, 2025. An atmospheric river brought heavy rains to the Cascades December 8 through 10. The East slopes saw 48 hour rain amounts of up to 7 inches along the crest, 3 to 4 inches in the mid slopes, and at least half an inch in the low land areas. The rain combined with snow melt and led to several flooding and landslide incidents. The flooding forced the closure of highway US 2 for several weeks. An embedded cold front bro…
Flood · Dec 9, 2025. An atmospheric river brought heavy rains to the Cascades December 8 through 10. The East slopes saw 48 hour rain amounts of up to 7 inches along the crest, 3 to 4 inches in the mid slopes, and at least half an inch in the low land areas. The rain combined with snow melt and led to several flooding and landslide incidents. The flooding forced the closure of highway US 2 for several weeks. An embedded cold front bro…
Flood · Dec 8, 2025. An atmospheric river brought heavy rains to the Cascades December 8 through 10. The East slopes saw 48 hour rain amounts of up to 7 inches along the crest, 3 to 4 inches in the mid slopes, and at least half an inch in the low land areas. The rain combined with snow melt and led to several flooding and landslide incidents. The flooding forced the closure of highway US 2 for several weeks. An embedded cold front bro…
Flash Flood · Aug 23, 2024. Slow moving, heavy rain showers moved over the the higher terrain near Wenatchee. Rain amounts ranged from 0.4 to 0.6 of an inch from 1700-2000 PST. The runoff was funneled through the canyons and caused flash flooding for parts of Western Wenatchee.
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 Chelan 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.