Photo: Cary Bass · CC BY-SA 2.0More hazard damage per building is expected in Harbor than in 95% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Harbor gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 95% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (65%), then river and rain flooding (21%). 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 Harbor faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Earthquakes
River and rain flooding
Tsunamis
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 Harbor’s grade
Earthquakes are 65% of the building damage FEMA expects in Harbor, and Harbor’s rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts. Tsunamis add 10%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
D higher expected damage per building than 95% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Harbor’s residents live in 2 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $5.1M a year in losses across Harbor: $2.6M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Harbor flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Harbor. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Harbor isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Curry County.The storms Harbor remembers
None of the 11 disasters declared for Curry County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Harbor itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Curry County has had 11 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 2 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Curry County, 2002–2017.
Get ready for what Harbor faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Harbor
Is Harbor at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Harbor has higher expected damage per building than 95% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (65%) and river and rain flooding (21%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Harbor 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 Curry County, 18% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.1% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Harbor?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Harbor’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Harbor at risk from earthquakes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (65%), and Harbor’s rate for it is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Harbor.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Harbor’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.