Oregon flood insurance and flood history
From FEMA's flood insurance and disaster data · Updated 2026-10-08
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data lists 6,095 flood insurance claims in Oregon since 1978. The NFIP paid $110.1 million on them (building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments, in the dollars of the year paid).
The year with the most claims was 1996, with 1,789, mostly from Flooding.
In the last ten years (2017–2026) there were 498 claims, and the average paid claim was $37,013.
29% of the claims with a recorded flood zone came from buildings outside FEMA's high-risk zones (rated zones B, C and X).
About 1.1% of homes in Oregon had an NFIP flood policy in FEMA's latest count (16,155 of 1,497,491 residential buildings). In the high-risk flood zones (Special Flood Hazard Areas), it was 25% (10,330 of 41,676).
Since 2000, FEMA has made 15 flood-related disaster declarations covering parts of Oregon. The most recent was DR-4907-OR (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides), declared April 7, 2026.
Flood insurance claims in Oregon by year
Show as a table
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 10 | $102,175 |
| 2025 | 155 | $6.5 million |
| 2024 | 17 | $190,537 |
| 2023 | 24 | $345,809 |
| 2022 | 17 | $333,428 |
| 2021 | 56 | $725,579 |
| 2020 | 53 | $1.5 million |
| 2019 | 74 | $998,532 |
| 2018 | 31 | $693,210 |
| 2017 | 61 | $302,556 |
| 2016 | 37 | $151,159 |
| 2015 | 260 | $5.9 million |
| 2014 | 46 | $433,748 |
| 2013 | 6 | $14,172 |
| 2012 | 379 | $6.3 million |
| 2011 | 67 | $1.0 million |
| 2010 | 41 | $353,217 |
| 2009 | 119 | $2.3 million |
| 2008 | 36 | $289,454 |
| 2007 | 471 | $21.1 million |
| 2006 | 204 | $5.4 million |
| 2005 | 143 | $2.4 million |
| 2004 | 17 | $30,041 |
| 2003 | 44 | $370,857 |
| 2002 | 44 | $540,930 |
| 2001 | 10 | $14,235 |
| 2000 | 30 | $155,123 |
| 1999 | 326 | $6.0 million |
| 1998 | 260 | $3.8 million |
| 1997 | 306 | $2.8 million |
| 1996 | 1,789 | $35.2 million |
| 1995 | 82 | $415,609 |
| 1994 | 24 | $184,364 |
| 1993 | 23 | $24,662 |
| 1992 | 9 | $10,346 |
| 1991 | 24 | $158,037 |
| 1990 | 44 | $365,496 |
| 1989 | 12 | $1,790 |
| 1988 | 5 | $4,510 |
| 1987 | 23 | $131,672 |
| 1986 | 25 | $116,868 |
| 1985 | 16 | $109,553 |
| 1984 | 70 | $605,239 |
| 1983 | 100 | $398,072 |
| 1982 | 131 | $280,841 |
| 1981 | 140 | $265,147 |
| 1980 | 146 | $530,844 |
| 1979 | 63 | $122,037 |
| 1978 | 25 | $56,658 |
Biggest flood events by NFIP payments
The flood events FEMA's claims data names most often for Oregon, ranked by what the NFIP paid. FEMA names events in its claims records; claims without an event name aren't included here.
| Event | Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flooding | 1996 | 1,638 | $34.2 million |
| Winter storm | 2007 | 443 | $20.9 million |
| Flooding | 1997 | 258 | $2.6 million |
| Winter storm | 2009 | 84 | $2.0 million |
| Flooding | 1990 | 32 | $236,138 |
| Winter storm | 2008 | 10 | $96,890 |
Flood history by county
Every Oregon county in FEMA's data, sorted by number of NFIP claims since 1978. "Insured" is the share of homes with an NFIP policy.
| County | Claims | Paid | Insured | Flood declarations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clackamas County | 816 | $24.6 million | 0.9% | 4 |
| Tillamook County | 754 | $15.2 million | 5.7% | 8 |
| Lincoln County | 462 | $6.3 million | 4.0% | 8 |
| Lane County | 454 | $4.2 million | 1.6% | 5 |
| Columbia County | 432 | $21.0 million | 1.9% | 6 |
| Washington County | 408 | $5.5 million | 0.6% | 2 |
| Marion County | 400 | $6.0 million | 1.3% | 1 |
| Multnomah County | 348 | $4.6 million | 0.5% | 1 |
| Jackson County | 304 | $2.5 million | 1.1% | 1 |
| Douglas County | 300 | $3.9 million | 1.8% | 7 |
| Coos County | 194 | $3.3 million | 0.8% | 6 |
| Clatsop County | 160 | $2.0 million | 4.8% | 7 |
| Linn County | 137 | $1.8 million | 1.1% | 5 |
| Yamhill County | 108 | $1.2 million | 1.0% | 5 |
| Umatilla County | 94 | $1.8 million | 0.7% | 2 |
| Curry County | 88 | $1.3 million | 1.1% | 7 |
| Josephine County | 81 | $687,550 | 1.0% | 4 |
| Polk County | 78 | $851,650 | 1.2% | 6 |
| Benton County | 70 | $544,336 | 2.0% | 3 |
| Crook County | 67 | $465,725 | 1.6% | 2 |
| Harney County | 56 | $564,261 | 1.1% | 0 |
| Malheur County | 48 | $184,366 | 0.5% | 0 |
| Deschutes County | 21 | $186,223 | 0.2% | 1 |
| Union County | 21 | $165,391 | 1.0% | 2 |
| Wallowa County | 16 | $17,497 | 0.9% | 1 |
| Grant County | 12 | $52,564 | 1.0% | 1 |
| Klamath County | 10 | $207,434 | 0.2% | 0 |
| Lake County | 10 | $150,969 | 0.6% | 0 |
| Wasco County | 10 | $93,778 | 0.4% | 2 |
| Morrow County | 8 | $15,610 | 0.8% | 0 |
| Jefferson County | 7 | $12,739 | 0.6% | 2 |
| Baker County | 4 | $4,733 | 0.8% | 0 |
| Hood River County | 4 | $29,616 | 0.2% | 4 |
| Wheeler County | 3 | $8,765 | 0.5% | 3 |
| Gilliam County | 1 | $1,156 | 0.4% | 1 |
| Sherman County | 1 | $40,726 | 0.1% | 1 |
Flood-related FEMA disaster declarations in Oregon
Declarations since 2000 that FEMA lists as involving flooding. "Help for individuals" means FEMA's Individual Assistance was approved for at least part of the area.
| Declaration | Declared | Event | Help for individuals |
|---|---|---|---|
| DR-4907-OR | Apr 7, 2026 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-4881-OR | Jul 22, 2025 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-4733-OR | Aug 28, 2023 | Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-4519-OR | Apr 3, 2020 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | Yes |
| DR-4452-OR | Jul 9, 2019 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-4432-OR | May 2, 2019 | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-4328-OR | Aug 8, 2017 | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-4296-OR | Jan 25, 2017 | Severe Winter Storm and Flooding | No |
| DR-4258-OR | Feb 17, 2016 | Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-4055-OR | Mar 2, 2012 | Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-1956-OR | Feb 17, 2011 | Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Mudslides, Landslides, and Debris Flows | No |
| DR-1733-OR | Dec 8, 2007 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | Yes |
| DR-1683-OR | Feb 22, 2007 | Severe Winter Storm and Flooding | No |
| DR-1672-OR | Dec 29, 2006 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
| DR-1632-OR | Mar 20, 2006 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | No |
What to do with this
A county's history doesn't tell you your own building's risk. To see your property's flood zone, use FEMA's flood map lookup. To weigh coverage, start with do I need flood insurance? and what flood insurance costs.
Where these numbers come from
All figures on this page are calculated from FEMA's public OpenFEMA datasets:
- NFIP Redacted Claims (v3) (FEMA (OpenFEMA)): NFIP claims since 1978, downloaded 2026-10-08. Dollar amounts are what the NFIP paid, not adjusted for inflation. Claims filed under private flood insurance aren't included.
- NFIP Residential Penetration Rates (v1) (FEMA (OpenFEMA)): NFIP residential policy contracts in force (as of August 3, 2026) divided by FEMA's count of residential buildings from the National Structure Inventory. FEMA notes that inventory is incomplete in some counties, which can inflate the rate. Private flood policies aren't counted.
- Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2) (FEMA (OpenFEMA)): disaster declarations, downloaded 2026-10-08. We count a declaration as flood-related when FEMA lists flooding (or a dam or levee break) as its incident type or a designated incident type, or the declaration's title mentions flooding.
FEMA's redacted claims data doesn't identify properties, and FEMA notes that some records lack a county or flood zone. See how we use the data.