FEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Canyon Creek than in 92% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Canyon Creek gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns, #254 of 285 in Washington. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (73%), then earthquakes (16%). 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 Canyon Creek 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
Landslides
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 Canyon Creek’s grade
River and rain flooding is 73% of the building damage FEMA expects in Canyon Creek, and Canyon Creek’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts. Landslides add 10%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
D #254 of 285 in Washington; higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Canyon Creek’s residents live in 3 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical Washington town has higher expected damage than 76% of U.S. towns; within the state, Canyon Creek has more expected damage per building than 89% of Washington towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $3.7M a year in losses across Canyon Creek: $1.8M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Canyon Creek flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Canyon Creek. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Canyon Creek isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Snohomish County.The storms Canyon Creek remembers
None of the 31 disasters declared for Snohomish County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Canyon Creek itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Snohomish County has had 31 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 Snohomish County, 2022–2022.
Get ready for what Canyon Creek 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.
- Watch for new cracks, tilting trees or suddenly muddy streams after heavy rain.
- Stay off steep slopes in a downpour.
- Leave if you hear rumbling upslope.
- 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 Canyon Creek
Is Canyon Creek at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Canyon Creek has higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #254 of 285 in Washington. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (73%) and earthquakes (16%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Canyon Creek 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 Snohomish County, 27% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Canyon Creek?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Canyon Creek’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Canyon Creek at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (73%), and Canyon Creek’s rate for it is in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Canyon Creek.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Canyon Creek’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.