Nisqually School · Photo: BL Weeks · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Nisqually Indian Community
Nisqually Indian Community isn’t graded for hazard risk: Nisqually Indian Community has 628 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 54 claims here since 1995.
What Nisqually Indian Community 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
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 Nisqually Indian Community flood? Sometimes: 54 flood claims since 1995
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Nisqually Indian Community, from FEMA’s records.
- The Winter storm1 claim · $3K
Nisqually Indian Community isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Thurston County.The storms Nisqually Indian Community remembers
None of the 25 disasters declared for Thurston County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Nisqually Indian Community itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 199621 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Winter Storms, Land and Muds Slides,flooding, declared for Thurston County
- 202020 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared for Thurston County
- 19957 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms, High Wind, and Flooding, declared for Thurston County
Thurston County has had 25 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then severe storms. 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 Thurston County, 2020–2020.
Old photos of Nisqually Indian Community after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Nisqually Indian Community archive →Get ready for what Nisqually Indian Community 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.
- 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 Nisqually Indian Community
Does Nisqually Indian Community flood?
Flood insurance has paid 54 claims in Nisqually Indian Community since 1995, $2.4M in all. The most claims came from Winter storm (1).
Is Nisqually Indian Community 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 Thurston County, 43% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Nisqually Indian Community?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Nisqually Indian Community’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 Nisqually Indian Community?
By flood claims, Winter storm: 1 paid, $3K.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Nisqually Indian Community.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Nisqually Indian Community’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.