Natural hazards · Alta Sierra

Alta Sierra, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alta Sierra comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Alta Sierra?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alta Sierra to be higher than in 92% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire60%Inland flooding23%Earthquakes11%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Alta Sierra faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Wildfire

60% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamis

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Alta Sierra flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Alta Sierra.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Alta Sierra isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Kern County.

Disasters that hit Alta Sierra

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Alta Sierra itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Alta Sierra.

Brought FEMA money into Alta SierraDeclared for Kern County only

2023

Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid

Kern County has had 37 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Alta Sierra is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Alta Sierra’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Alta Sierra. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.