Photo: Parametrix, Inc. · Public domainStorms, floods and disasters in Clallam Bay
Clallam Bay isn’t graded for hazard risk: Clallam Bay has 602 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Clallam Bay 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
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 Clallam Bay flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Clallam Bay. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Clallam Bay isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Clallam County.4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Clallam Bay
Disasters that paid out in Clallam Bay itself (aid to households or repair grants to Clallam Bay), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2021Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides7 households applied for aid$38K aid approved
- 2009Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding12 households applied for aid$5K aid approved
- 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides12 households applied for aid$12K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms and Flooding2 households applied for aid$11K aid approved
Clallam County has had 25 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.
Old photos of Clallam Bay after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Clallam Bay archive →Get ready for what Clallam Bay 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.
- 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 Clallam Bay
Is Clallam Bay 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 Clallam County, 0.8% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Clallam Bay?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Clallam Bay’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 Clallam Bay?
By FEMA money that reached Clallam Bay, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2021): 7 households applied for aid, $38K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Clallam Bay.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Clallam Bay’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.