Photo: Steve Shook · CC BY 2.0On FEMA’s figures, Plummer faces more hazard damage per building than 83% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Plummer gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 83% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (93%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Plummer 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
Wildfire
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.
What’s behind Plummer’s grade
River and rain flooding is 93% of the building damage FEMA expects in Plummer, and Plummer’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 9% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 5%, at a rate in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts.
C− higher expected damage per building than 83% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Plummer’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $576K a year in losses across Plummer: $498K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Plummer flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Plummer. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Plummer isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Benewah County.5 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Plummer
Disasters that paid out in Plummer itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Plummer), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2025Straight-line Winds$9K to the City of Plummer for repairs
- 2021Straight-line Winds$95K to the City of Plummer for repairs
- 2017Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$54K to the City of Plummer for repairs
- 2015Severe Winter Storms$57K to the City of Plummer for repairs
- 2015Severe Storm and Straight-line Wind$83K to the City of Plummer for repairs
Benewah County has had 13 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.
Old photos of Plummer after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Plummer archive →Get ready for what Plummer 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.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- 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 Plummer
Is Plummer at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Plummer has higher expected damage per building than 83% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (93%) and wildfire (5%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Plummer 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 Benewah County, 11% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Plummer?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Plummer’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 Plummer?
By FEMA money that reached Plummer, Straight-line Winds (2021): $95K to the City of Plummer for repairs.
Is Plummer at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (93%), and Plummer’s rate for it is in the top 9% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Plummer.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Plummer’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.