Twanoh State Park · Photo: Steven Pavlov · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Union
Union isn’t graded for hazard risk: Union has 457 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Union faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Earthquakes
River and rain flooding
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 Union flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Union. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Union 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.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Union
Disasters that paid out in Union itself (aid to households or repair grants to Union), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides32 households applied for aid$63K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms and Flooding4 households applied for aid$215 aid approved
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 Union after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Union archive →Get ready for what Union faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
- 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 Union
Is Union 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 Union?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Union’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 Union?
By FEMA money that reached Union, Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2007): 32 households applied for aid, $63K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Union.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Union’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.