Washington’s natural disaster rate has increased, but here’s a way to help prepare
The frequency of FEMA-reported natural disasters within the state of Washington has nearly tripled since 2000, according to a recent study.
Between 2000 and 2017, Washington saw 61 natural disasters, according to an analysis by insurance comparison website QuoteWizard, which looked at FEMA natural disaster data for the report.
That tied with New Mexico for the fifth-highest number of natural disasters during the time, the study found, behind Texas (172), California (153), Oklahoma (122) and Florida (66).
Washington’s disasters also were a 165% increase from the 23 the state saw in the prior two decades from 1980 to 1999, the study found.
Fortunately for the state, that was only the 23rd-highest increase in the nation and well behind the 1,350% increase Colorado saw.
Washington’s increase actually matched that of the entire nation, which suffered an estimated $485 billion in property loss between 2000 and 2017, the report stated.
“If it seems like storms, wildfires and hurricanes in the United States get more frequent every year, then you would be correct,” QuoteWizard wrote in its release about the study.
The analysis also found that fires were the most common type of disaster. The states seeing the biggest increase in natural disasters tended to be the fire-prone states, especially those in the west, where recent annual weather patterns have seen long, wet winters that allow foliage to grow and are followed by long, hot dry summers.
“That paired with firefighting practices of containment over the last century leaves forested areas to become like kindling for fires,” QuoteWizard wrote.
Washington saw 1,732 wildfires that burned 438,868 acres in 2018, according to the 2018 Pacific Northwest Fire Season Summary produced by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. The report showed those numbers were in line with the 2017 fire numbers, but well ahead of the 10-year-average.
In a release sent to The Bellingham Herald, FEMA questioned how accurately the QuoteWizard study measured disaster severity.
“FEMA responds to disasters at the respective governor’s request when their state emergency managers are unable to meet survivor’s needs — and the President declares a disaster declaration,” the release stated. “Because states have different disaster response capabilities, FEMA response will not evenly capture event severity across the nation.”
With that fire danger, plus the ever-present threat of a major earthquake and tsunami along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and other potential natural disasters in the area, the Bellingham Office of Emergency Management suggests now is the time to prepare.
The office announced it is expanding a program called Map Your Neighborhood, which enables neighbors to create a shared plan and prepare for disasters by building relationships, trust and knowledge.
To help facilitate the program, the Office of Emergency Management announced it will offer orientations throughout the year. The next two orientations are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 19, and Thursday, March 26. Both sessions will run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Fireplace Conference Room in the Bellingham Municipal Court building, 625 Halleck St., Bellingham.
For more information, email oem@cob.org or call 360-778-8443.
“Since part of our mission is helping people before disasters, we want to emphasize the importance of insurance and disaster preparedness, no matter where you live,” the FEMA release stated. “Every part of the country is vulnerable to some type of disaster, and we encourage everyone to know their risks and be prepared. Information on preparedness for individuals, families and businesses can be found on Ready.gov.”
This story was updated Feb. 4, 2020, with FEMA statement.
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Washington’s natural disaster rate has increased, but here’s a way to help prepare."
