Camp North Bend · Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0On FEMA’s figures, Riverbend faces more hazard damage per building than 95% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Riverbend gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 95% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (84%), then earthquakes (11%). 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 Riverbend 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.
What’s behind Riverbend’s grade
River and rain flooding is 84% of the building damage FEMA expects in Riverbend, and Riverbend’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts. Landslides add 4%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
D higher expected damage per building than 95% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Riverbend’s residents live in 2 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $9.6M a year in losses across Riverbend: $2.1M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Riverbend flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Riverbend. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Riverbend isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: King County.The storms Riverbend remembers
None of the 30 disasters declared for King County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Riverbend itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
King County has had 30 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 King County, 2022–2022.
Get ready for what Riverbend 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 Riverbend
Is Riverbend at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Riverbend has higher expected damage per building than 95% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (84%) and earthquakes (11%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Riverbend 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 King County, 44% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.8% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Riverbend?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Riverbend’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Riverbend at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (84%), and Riverbend’s rate for it is in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Riverbend.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Riverbend’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.