High Steel Bridge · Photo: Dog Walking Girl · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Skokomish
Skokomish isn’t graded for hazard risk: Skokomish has 560 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 14 claims here since 1994.
What Skokomish 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
Coastal flooding
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 Skokomish flood? Sometimes: 14 flood claims since 1994
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Skokomish, from FEMA’s records.
- The Winter storm5 claims · $86K
Skokomish isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Mason County.The storms Skokomish remembers
None of the 27 disasters declared for Mason County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Skokomish itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 20075 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared for Mason County
- 20033 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for Mason County
- 19942 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Mason County has had 27 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 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Mason County, 2023–2023.
Old photos of Skokomish after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Skokomish archive →Get ready for what Skokomish 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.
- Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
- Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
- Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
- 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 Skokomish
Does Skokomish flood?
Flood insurance has paid 14 claims in Skokomish since 1994, $216K in all. The most claims came from Winter storm (5).
Is Skokomish 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 Mason County, 22% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Skokomish?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Skokomish’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 Skokomish?
By flood claims, Winter storm: 5 paid, $86K.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Skokomish.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Skokomish’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.