Photo: Frank Smith · Public domainStorms, floods and disasters in Naselle
Naselle isn’t graded for hazard risk: Naselle has 528 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Naselle 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 Naselle flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Naselle. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Naselle isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Pacific County.3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Naselle
Disasters that paid out in Naselle itself (aid to households or repair grants to Naselle), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2025Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides11 households applied for aid$169K aid approved
- 2009Severe Winter Storm, Landslides, Mudslides, and Flooding24 households applied for aid$108K aid approved
- 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides40 households applied for aid$14K aid approved
Pacific County has had 23 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 Naselle after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Naselle archive →Get ready for what Naselle 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 Naselle
Is Naselle 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 Pacific County, 18% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 2.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Naselle?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Naselle’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 Naselle?
By FEMA money that reached Naselle, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2025): 11 households applied for aid, $169K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Naselle.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Naselle’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.