Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Wheeler
Wheeler isn’t graded for hazard risk: Wheeler has 448 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Wheeler 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
Coastal 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.
Does Wheeler flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Wheeler. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Wheeler isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Tillamook County.5 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Wheeler
Disasters that paid out in Wheeler itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Wheeler), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Landslides, and Mudslides$3K to the City of Wheeler for repairs
- 2015Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$28K to the City of Wheeler for repairs
- 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides23 households applied for aid$24K aid approved$40K to the City of Wheeler for repairs
- 2006Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$14K to the City of Wheeler for repairs
- 2005Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$16K to the City of Wheeler for repairs
Tillamook County has had 20 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 Tillamook County, 2020–2020.
Old photos of Wheeler after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Wheeler archive →Get ready for what Wheeler 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.
- Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
- Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
- Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
- 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 Wheeler
Is Wheeler 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 Tillamook County, 30% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 5.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Wheeler?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Wheeler’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 Wheeler?
By FEMA money that reached Wheeler, Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2007): 23 households applied for aid, $24K approved, and $40K to the City of Wheeler for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Wheeler.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Wheeler’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.