Natural disaster risk in Grays Harbor County, Washington

Washington · population 75,462 · FIPS 53027

Overall: relatively high risk

Grays Harbor County has a composite risk score of 97.0 out of 100 — higher than 97% of US counties. It ranks 4 of 39 in Washington (1 = highest risk). Its highest-rated hazards are tsunami, coastal flooding, earthquake.

Drought now: No, but abnormally dry (D0)

No drought, but abnormally dry. On the U.S. Drought Monitor map valid 13 October 2026, 33.93% of Grays Harbor County is D0 Abnormally Dry and none of it is in drought (D1 to D4). Some of it has been abnormally dry or worse for 17 weeks in a row.

Drought in Grays Harbor County: the last 52 weeks · droughtmonitor.unl.edu

The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.

Risk, loss, vulnerability and resilience

Measure	Rating and score
Overall risk Expected annual loss, adjusted for social vulnerability and community resilience.	Relatively high 97
Expected annual loss About $211.9 million a year, on average, across all 18 hazards.	Relatively high 95.9
Social vulnerability Higher means people may find it harder to prepare and recover.	Relatively high 67.2
Community resilience Higher means a stronger ability to prepare, adapt and recover.	Relatively high 62

Risk by hazard

FEMA's risk rating for each of 18 natural hazards in Grays Harbor County, highest first. "Not applicable" means the hazard is not modelled here.

Hazard	Risk rating and score
Tsunami	Very high 100
Coastal flooding	Very high 99
Earthquake	Relatively high 98
Ice storm	Relatively high 87
Landslide	Relatively moderate 95
Inland (riverine) flooding	Relatively moderate 83
Heat wave	Relatively low 58
Winter weather	Relatively low 38
Avalanche	Very low 35
Wildfire	Very low 33
Drought	Very low 13
Lightning	Very low 13
Tornado	Very low 13
Strong wind	Very low 7
Cold wave	Very low 2
Hail	Very low 2
Hurricane	Not applicable
Volcanic activity	No rating

FEMA disaster declarations for Grays Harbor County

Federal declarations that designated Grays Harbor County, since 1 Jan 2024 (the period this site keeps from OpenFEMA). Older declarations are in FEMA's own dataset.

Yes. Grays Harbor County has been named in 3 FEMA declarations since 1 Jan 2024. The latest is DR-4906-WA (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides), declared 7 Apr 2026.

Declaration	Kind	Incident	Declared	Individual assistance here
DR-4906-WA	Major disaster	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	7 Apr 2026	Yes
EM-3629-WA	Emergency	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	12 Dec 2025	No
DR-4775-WA	Major disaster	Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	28 Apr 2024	No

All FEMA declarations in Washington, with estimated apply-by dates · Open FEMA deadlines

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s). Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2.

How to read these ratings

Ratings run in five steps: very low, relatively low, relatively moderate, relatively high and very high. They compare a county with every other US county; they are not a measure of danger on their own.
Scores run from 0 to 100 and are national percentiles. The bar shows the score: a score of 80 means a higher value than 80% of US counties.
Overall risk combines the expected annual loss with social vulnerability and community resilience.
Expected annual loss is the average yearly loss to buildings, people and agriculture the model expects from all 18 hazards.
Social vulnerability describes how hard it may be for people to prepare for and recover from a disaster. Higher is worse.
Community resilience describes a community's ability to prepare, adapt and recover. Higher is better.
"Not applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard there (for example, hurricanes far inland).

About this data

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, version 1.20, released December 2025, published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (US public domain). About the National Risk Index. The index is a model of relative risk built from historical hazard records, what is exposed and community factors. It is not a forecast, it does not describe any single property, and it is not insurance or financial advice. For decisions about a specific address, check FEMA's flood maps and your local emergency management office.

Questions

What is the natural disaster risk in Grays Harbor County, Washington?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the overall risk in Grays Harbor County as relatively high, with a score of 97.0 out of 100 (higher than 97% of US counties). That is a comparison with other US counties, not a forecast.

What are the biggest natural hazards in Grays Harbor County?

The hazards rated highest for Grays Harbor County are tsunami (very high), coastal flooding (very high), earthquake (relatively high).

What is the flood risk in Grays Harbor County?

FEMA rates inland (river and rain) flooding risk in Grays Harbor County as relatively moderate, and coastal flooding risk as very high. For a specific property, check the FEMA flood map and your local floodplain office.

Has Grays Harbor County had a FEMA disaster declaration?

Is Grays Harbor County in a drought?

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