Photo: Silus Grok from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Harrison
Harrison isn’t graded for hazard risk: Harrison has 190 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1997.
What Harrison 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
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 Harrison flood? Rarely: 2 flood claims since 1997
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Harrison, from FEMA’s records.
Harrison isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Kootenai County.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Harrison
Disasters that paid out in Harrison itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Harrison), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2021Straight-line Winds$70K to the City of Harrison for repairs
- 2017Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$386K to the City of Harrison for repairs
Kootenai County has had 14 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Kootenai County, 2015–2015.
Old photos of Harrison after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Harrison archive →Get ready for what Harrison 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.
- 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 Harrison
Does Harrison flood?
Flood insurance has paid 2 claims in Harrison since 1997, $39K in all.
Is Harrison 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. In Kootenai County, 11% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Harrison?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Harrison’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Harrison?
By FEMA money that reached Harrison, Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2017): $386K to the City of Harrison for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Harrison.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Harrison’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.