States › Washington › Kitsap County

Kitsap County, Washington

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 53035 · 274,314 residents (2021) · 395 sq mi · dominant hazard Other

Hail · 0Tornado · 2Flood · 1Wind · 2Winter · 0

Kitsap County within Washington. Dots: TornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 17 storm events in Kitsap County, Washington, led by other events.

That is 4.3 events per 100 square miles, below the Washington figure of 15.1, and 0.6 per 10,000 residents against 12.9 statewide.

0 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 1 death and 5 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $34M.

FEMA has designated the county in 16 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Covid-19 Pandemic (major disaster, 22 Mar 2020).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 229 claims since 1978, of which 141 were paid, totalling $4.2M (about $30K per paid claim). FEMA counts 795 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Moderate" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Moderate" ($158M a year across 18 hazards).

0events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

17events since 19501 death, 5 injuries recorded

16disaster declarationslast 22 Mar 2020

229NFIP flood claims$4.2M paid

Compared with Washington and the United States

Measure	Kitsap County	Washington	US
Recorded events since 1950	17	10,014	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	4.3	15.1	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	0.6	12.9	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	0	130	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1	321	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$34M	$4.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.8	2.1	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$30K	$29K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	11.1	10.7	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 1Lightning: 2Other: 5

Other: 5

Tornado: 1Flood: 1Wind: 2

01950s01960s01970s01980s81990s52000s42010s02020s

Recorded events in Kitsap County by decade and hazard group. TornadoFloodWindLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 6 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 11 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Other10

Tornado2

Wind2

Lightning2

Flood1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Other	10	—	1.4%
■ Tornado	2	—	1.4%
■ Wind	2	1	0.1%
■ Lightning	2	—	1.9%
■ Flood	1	—	0.1%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
14 Dec 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	$25K	—	1	—	County
15 Mar 1997	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$750K	—	—	3	County
2 Dec 2007	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$30M	—	—	—	County
13 May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	40 mph	$30K	—	—	1	County
17 Jul 1999	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
18 Dec 2018	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.2M	—	—	—	County
12 Dec 2010	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
5 Jan 2006	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$700K	—	—	—	County
20 Oct 2003	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$200K	—	—	—	County
3 Aug 1999	Lightning	Lightning	—	$150K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
22 Mar 2020	DR-4481	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3427	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
8 Dec 2007	DR-1734	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 May 2006	DR-1641	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Tidal Surge, Landslides, And Mudslides	Public assistance
7 Sep 2005	EM-3227	Emergency	Coastal Storm	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
7 Nov 2003	DR-1499	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
1 Mar 2001	DR-1361	Major disaster	Earthquake	Earthquake	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Apr 1997	DR-1172	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains, Snow Melt, Flooding, Land & Mud Slides	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Jan 1997	DR-1159	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Land & Muds Slides,Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Feb 1996	DR-1100	Major disaster	Flood	High Winds, Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
8 Mar 1991	DR-896	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & High Tides	Public assistance
26 Nov 1990	DR-883	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
21 May 1980	DR-623	Major disaster	Volcanic Eruption	Volcanic Eruption, Mt. St. Helens	Individual assistance, Public assistance
31 Dec 1979	DR-612	Major disaster	Flood	Storms, High Tides, Mudslides & Flooding	Individual assistance
25 Jan 1974	DR-414	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Snowmelt & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 May 1965	DR-196	Major disaster	Earthquake	Earthquake	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Kitsap County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978229

Paid claims141

Total paid$4.2M

Average paid claim$30K

Repetitive-loss properties50 severe

Residential policies in force7950.8% of 98,685 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	0	$0	—
2025	1	0	$0	—
2023	1	1	$7,936	$7,936
2022	74	58	$2,174,051	$37,484
2021	4	2	$44,083	$22,042
2020	4	2	$8,142	$4,071
2019	2	1	$3,102	$3,102
2017	1	0	$0	—
2016	5	1	$6,765	$6,765
2015	3	1	$7,425	$7,425
2014	6	3	$18,264	$6,088
2013	3	2	$11,199	$5,599
2012	10	5	$127,995	$25,599
2011	1	0	$0	—
2010	17	8	$238,339	$29,792
2008	1	0	$0	—
2007	29	22	$655,870	$29,812
2006	4	4	$108,693	$27,173
2004	3	1	$5,644	$5,644
2003	1	1	$8,488	$8,488
2002	1	0	$0	—
2001	1	1	$48,267	$48,267
1999	9	4	$138,894	$34,723
1998	3	1	$33,070	$33,070
1997	10	6	$367,141	$61,190

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Moderatescore 92.3 of 100

Expected annual loss$158MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Earthquake	Relatively High	$119,624,390
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$24,661,083
Tsunami	Relatively Low	$4,219,451
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,840,056
Coastal flooding	Relatively Moderate	$2,755,214
Landslide	Relatively High	$2,012,468
Tornado	Very Low	$429,112
Lightning	Relatively Low	$363,434
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$115,373
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$103,840
Strong wind	Very Low	$85,872
Wildfire	Very Low	$33,785
Hail	Very Low	$15,330
Volcanic activity	Very Low	$117
Avalanche	Very Low	$0

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

No HURDAT2 track at tropical-storm strength passes within 100 miles of the county's centre point (through the 2025 season).

ZIP codes with flood claims

98110 69
98312 32
98370 23
98340 19
98310 15
98366 15
98346 13
98367 13
98380 12
98383 8

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Kitsap County, WA?

NCEI records no hail events in Kitsap County since 1950. Reports depend on someone observing and reporting the hail, so absence of a record is not proof of absence.

Has Kitsap County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 2 tornadoes in Kitsap County since 1950, 1 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Kitsap County?

22 Mar 2020: Covid-19 Pandemic, a major disaster declaration for biological. The county appears in 16 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Kitsap County, and how much was paid?

229 NFIP claims since 1978, 141 of them paid, for $4.2M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Kitsap County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Moderate" for overall risk, "Relatively Moderate" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Kitsap County compare with the rest of Washington?

4.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 15.1 statewide, and 0.8 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 2.1. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.