9 flood insurance claims·$140,442 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 San Juan 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.
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 2018, with 2 claims and $29,379 paid, the year of 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.
2 NOAA storm reports from San Juan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Washington flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1980, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Nov 5, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jan 20, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 14, 2006 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Tidal Surge, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jan 27, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Oct 15, 2003 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Land & Muds Slides,flooding | Dec 26, 1996 |
| Severe Storms & High Tides | Dec 20, 1990 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
3 since 1996: 1 river or area floods and 2 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Nov 15, 2021 | $475,000 |
| Coastal Flood | Dec 17, 2012 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Jan 2, 2003 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Nov 15, 2021. An upper level trough Gulf Low continued off the west coast that brought a series of atmospheric rivers resulting in flooding across parts of western Washington. This second atmospheric river episode of the month was a set of three atmospheric rivers back-to-back-to-back. Water vapor transport into Western Washington averaged 160 - 200% of normal during the period of 11 November - 16 November. Heavy rainfall sprea…
Coastal Flood · Dec 17, 2012. High astronomical tides coincided with low pressure to cause record high tide levels throughout Puget Sound. Many homes and yards along the shoreline were flooded.
Storm Surge/Tide · Jan 2, 2003. High tides, along with low pressure and occasional strong winds and heavy rains, produced flooding along the coast and in the northern marine areas of western Washington. Several roads were closed including SR 109 in Ocean Shores and parts of Highway 101. Flooding reached into dozens of homes and businesses in Ocean City and Copalis Beach. Near Eastsound, in the San Juans, a large area of debris was strewn acro…
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 San Juan 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.