Grays Harbor County, WA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Grays Harbor County scores at the 99th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very High" — among the highest flood hazard in the country. The hazard here is driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 10.1 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Grays Harbor County's flood-insurance compliance gap
18.9% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Grays Harbor County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 1,047 policies against 5,533 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 4.1% of all residential structures in Grays Harbor County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Grays Harbor County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Grays Harbor County ranks 39 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 741 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Grays Harbor County, Washington covers 1,902.268 square miles and counts roughly 77,893 residents.
Checking a specific address in Grays Harbor County
FEMA counts 32,985 residential structures in Grays Harbor County overall, 1,364 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Grays Harbor County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Grays Harbor County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.