684 flood insurance claims·$14.9M paid·11 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 Cowlitz 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.
River flooding driven by heavy rains and atmospheric rivers dominates the flood profile of Cowlitz County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 27 flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include an atmospheric river in December 2023 that brought heavy rains and minor river flooding along the Cowlitz River at Kelso, as well as a series of heavy rain events in January 2022 that caused mainstem river flooding.
Federal flood insurance claims data demonstrates that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Properties located in FEMA Zone A recorded 261 claims with an average water depth of 21 inches and an average payout of $24,592. Meanwhile, unshaded and shaded Zone X properties combined for 185 claims, with average water depths of 15 and 18 inches and average payouts of $35,977 and $27,147, respectively. An additional 150 claims came from Zone UNKNOWN, averaging 17 inches of recorded water depth and a $23,831 average payout.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the most attention to properties situated near rivers, such as the Cowlitz River, and those within both mapped high-risk zones and Zone X areas where historical claims indicate significant recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
42% of Cowlitz County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
453 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 18 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 1980, with 168 claims and $3.5M 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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Cowlitz County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Washington flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jan 5, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Snowstorms, Straight-line Winds, Floodin | Dec 26, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 29, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, Mudslides, And A T | Dec 1, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, And Flooding | Jan 6, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Record And Near Record Snow | Dec 12, 2008 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Nov 2, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
27 since 1996: 27 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 6, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jan 6, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2022 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Jan 13, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Nov 11, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Sep 17, 2020 | $250.0M |
| Flood | Feb 12, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 28, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 6, 2023. A strong atmospheric river brought heavy rains on December 5th which led to minor river and urban flooding across portions of southwest Washington. Clark County and Cowlitz County saw landslides, along with minor river flooding, including the Cowlitz River at Kelso and the Grays River near Rosburg. Portions of the Willapa Hills and south Washington Cascades received 12 to 16 inches of rain over a 5 day period begi…
Flood · Jan 6, 2022. The second in a series of strong Pacific fronts brought another round of heavy rain and resulting flooding of mainstem rivers draining the coastal mountains and interior of southwest Washington. Coastal flooding also occurred at some coastal communities as a result of high astronomical tides combined with high river levels and high seas.
Flood · Mar 1, 2022. A slow moving front in the region brought heavy rain and breezy conditions to the area.
Flood · Jan 13, 2021. A series of strong slow moving fronts brought periods of heavy rain along with strong winds. This resulted in high surf, coastal and river flooding.
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 Cowlitz 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.