Browns Point Lighthouse and Keeper's Cottage · Photo: Steven Pavlov · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Browns Point
Browns Point isn’t graded for hazard risk: Browns Point has 979 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 17 claims here since 1983.
What Browns Point 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
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 Browns Point flood? Sometimes: 17 flood claims since 1983
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Browns Point, from FEMA’s records.
Browns Point isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Pierce County.The storms Browns Point remembers
None of the 21 disasters declared for Pierce County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Browns Point itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 20125 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared for Pierce County
- 20225 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 20143 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Pierce County has had 21 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 Pierce County, 2020–2020.
Old photos of Browns Point after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Browns Point archive →Browns Point and its neighbors
How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tacoma | C−more damage than 83% | earthquakes | 54 |
| Dash Point | — | 889 residents; we grade 1,000+ | |
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 Browns Point 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.
- 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 Browns Point
Does Browns Point flood?
Flood insurance has paid 17 claims in Browns Point since 1983, $437K in all.
Is Browns Point 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 Pierce County, 44% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Browns Point?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Browns Point’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Browns Point.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Browns Point’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.