Photo: Eric Ward from Provo, UT, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0For wildfire, Highland’s building-damage rate is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Highland gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns, #66 of 119 in Utah. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (51%), then earthquakes (32%). 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 Highland 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
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 Highland’s grade
River and rain flooding is 51% of the building damage FEMA expects in Highland, and Highland’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 56% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 15%, at a rate in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
C+ #66 of 119 in Utah; higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Highland’s residents live in 10 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical Utah town has higher expected damage than 56% of U.S. towns; within the state, Highland has more expected damage per building than 55% of Utah towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $7.0M a year in losses across Highland: $4.9M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Highland flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Highland. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Highland isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Utah County.The storms Highland remembers
None of the 4 disasters declared for Utah County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Highland itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Utah County has had 4 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 6 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Utah County, 2001–2026.
Highland and its neighbors
Highland is 3rd of the 6 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Hills | B+less damage than 70% | river and rain flooding | — |
| Draper | Bless damage than 56% | earthquakes | 7 |
| Highland | C+more damage than 60% | river and rain flooding | 0 |
| Alpine | C+more damage than 62% | river and rain flooding | 1 |
| American Fork | Cmore damage than 70% | earthquakes | — |
| Lehi | C−more damage than 78% | river and rain flooding | 4 |
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Highland 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.
- 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 Highland
Is Highland at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Highland has higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk, #66 of 119 in Utah. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (51%) and earthquakes (32%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Highland 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 Utah County, 27% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Highland?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Highland’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Highland at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (51%), and Highland’s rate for it is lower than 56% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Highland.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Highland’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.