Storms, floods and disasters in Thorne Bay
Thorne Bay isn’t graded for hazard risk: Thorne Bay has 519 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Thorne Bay faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Landslides
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Thorne Bay flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Thorne Bay. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
The storms Thorne Bay remembers
None of the 1 disasters declared for Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Thorne Bay itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area has had 1 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms.
Get ready for what Thorne Bay faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Strong shaking or a sudden drop in the sea means head for high ground now.
- Learn the tsunami route signs near the shore.
- Stay away until officials say it’s safe.
- Watch for new cracks, tilting trees or suddenly muddy streams after heavy rain.
- Stay off steep slopes in a downpour.
- Leave if you hear rumbling upslope.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Thorne Bay
Is Thorne Bay in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map.
How much is flood insurance in Thorne Bay?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Thorne Bay’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Thorne Bay.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Thorne Bay’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.