99 flood insurance claims·$1.6M paid·5 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 Pend Oreille 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.
Riverine and general flooding dominates Pend Oreille County, accounting for 13 recorded events compared to 5 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Spring weather frequently triggers these conditions, as demonstrated in May 2018 when accelerated snowmelt in the Pend Oreille and Clark Fork River basins caused the Pend Oreille River to reach moderate flood levels from mid-May through early June, resulting in inundated yards, recreation sites, and first-floor home flooding between Newport and Jared. Earlier in April 2018, persistent wet weather delivered 1.79 inches of rain to Boundary Dam and 1.6 inches to Newport, saturating the ground and leading to areal floods and debris flows in mountainous areas.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with Zone A averaging 40 claims with an average payout of $16,951 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X (unshaded) recorded 38 claims averaging $18,679 with an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone X recorded 20 claims averaging $16,956 with an average water depth of 2 inches, and Zone D recorded 1 claim averaging $20,377 with 0 inches average water depth. Property owners near rivers and those located in Zone A and unshaded Zone X should pay the closest attention to flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
49% of Pend Oreille County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
78 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 6 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 70 claims and $979,347 paid, the year of Heavy Rains, Snow Melt, Flooding, Land & Mud Slides and Fl00ding, Snow Melt.
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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Pend Oreille County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Washington flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 29, 2020 |
| Wildfires And Straight-line Winds | Sep 1, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, Mudslides | Jan 30, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Nov 12, 2015 |
| Wildfires | Aug 13, 2015 |
| Wildfires And Mudslides | Aug 9, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Record And Near Record Snow | Dec 12, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 14, 2006 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
18 since 1996: 5 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2023 | $1,000 |
| Flood | May 20, 2023 | $500 |
| Flood | Apr 16, 2018 | $1,000 |
| Flood | May 11, 2018 | $8.0M |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2017 | $300,000 |
| Flood | Feb 7, 2015 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Mar 29, 2012 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2023. Thunderstorms impacted the region bringing damage and flash flooding to Eastern Washington.
Flood · May 20, 2023. A passing cold front brought more thunderstorms to Eastern Washington. The impacts again included hail, lightning, winds, and flooding from heavy rain.
Flood · Apr 16, 2018. The second week of April brought a period of wet weather to northeast Washington. Boundary Dam measured 1.79 inches of rain between April 11th and the 17th. Newport measured 1.6 inches during the same period and Mazama measured 1.01 inches. Holden Village recording 1.48 inches. All of this rain lead to saturated ground conditions by the beginning of the third week of April and set the stage for a rash of areal flo…
Flood · May 11, 2018. An above average snow pack in the mountains drained by the Pend Oreille and Clark Fork River basins melted at an accelerated rate during the month of May. Run off from this snow melt caused the Pend Oreille River to achieve moderate flood level for an extended period of time from the middle of May through the first week of June. ||Numerous homes along the river particularly between the towns of Newport and Jared s…
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 Pend Oreille 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.