Photo: Jcon64.28 · CC BY-SA 4.0For wildfire, Umatilla’s building-damage rate is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Umatilla gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 61% of U.S. towns, #15 of 142 in Oregon. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (79%), then wildfire (12%). 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 stands out about Umatilla’s natural hazards
From FEMA’s model and FEMA’s records, below.
What Umatilla 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
Earthquakes
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 Umatilla’s grade
River and rain flooding is 79% of the building damage FEMA expects in Umatilla, and Umatilla’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 12%, at a rate in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.
B #15 of 142 in Oregon; lower expected damage per building than 61% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Umatilla’s residents live in 2 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical Oregon town has higher expected damage than 69% of U.S. towns; within the state, Umatilla has less expected damage per building than 90% of Oregon towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $3.4M a year in losses across Umatilla: $2.0M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Umatilla flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Umatilla. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Umatilla isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Umatilla County.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Umatilla
Disasters that paid out in Umatilla itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Umatilla), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2020Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides3 households applied for aid$196K to the City of Umatilla for repairs
- 2019Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$6.3M to the City of Umatilla for repairs
Umatilla County has had 8 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 4 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Umatilla County, 2001–2026.
Old photos of Umatilla after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Umatilla archive →Get ready for what Umatilla 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Umatilla
Is Umatilla at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Umatilla has lower expected damage per building than 61% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk, #15 of 142 in Oregon. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (79%) and wildfire (12%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Umatilla 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 Umatilla County, 18% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Umatilla?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Umatilla’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 Umatilla?
By FEMA money that reached Umatilla, Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2019): $6.3M to the City of Umatilla for repairs.
Is Umatilla at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (79%), and Umatilla’s rate for it is higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Umatilla.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Umatilla’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.