Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant · Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives from Seattle, WA · CC BY 2.0More hazard damage per building is expected in Wilderness Rim than in 84% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Wilderness Rim gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (73%), then earthquakes (25%). 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 Wilderness Rim 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 Wilderness Rim’s grade
River and rain flooding is 73% of the building damage FEMA expects in Wilderness Rim, and Wilderness Rim’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 86% of U.S. census tracts. Next is earthquakes at 25% (higher than 86% of U.S. census tracts).
C− higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Wilderness Rim’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $5.5M a year in losses across Wilderness Rim: $664K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Wilderness Rim flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Wilderness Rim. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Wilderness Rim 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 Wilderness Rim remembers
None of the 30 disasters declared for King County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Wilderness Rim 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 Wilderness Rim 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 Wilderness Rim
Is Wilderness Rim at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Wilderness Rim has higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (73%) and earthquakes (25%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Wilderness Rim 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 Wilderness Rim?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Wilderness Rim’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Wilderness Rim at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (73%), and Wilderness Rim’s rate for it is higher than 86% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Wilderness Rim.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Wilderness Rim’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.