Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0FEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Naches than in 84% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Naches gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (73%), then earthquakes (14%). Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1996.
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 Naches 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 Naches’ grade
River and rain flooding is 73% of the building damage FEMA expects in Naches, and Naches’ rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 86% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 13%, at a rate in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts.
C− higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Naches’ residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $671K a year in losses across Naches: $535K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Naches flood? Rarely: 2 flood claims since 1996
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Naches, from FEMA’s records: 4.8 per 1,000 homes, more than 59% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.
Naches isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Yakima County.The storms Naches remembers
None of the 19 disasters declared for Yakima County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Naches itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 19962 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Winter Storms, Land and Muds Slides,flooding, declared for Yakima County
Yakima County has had 19 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 16 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Yakima County, 2000–2026.
Old photos of Naches after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Naches archive →Get ready for what Naches 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 Naches
Is Naches at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Naches has higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (73%) and earthquakes (14%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Does Naches flood?
Flood insurance has paid 2 claims in Naches since 1996, $27K in all, or 4.8 per 1,000 homes, more than 59% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.
Is Naches 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 Yakima County, 16% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Naches?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Naches’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Naches at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (73%), and Naches’ rate for it is higher than 86% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Naches.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Naches’ 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.