Natural hazards · Avila Beach

Avila Beach, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Avila Beach comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Avila Beach?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Avila Beach to be higher than in 89% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding67%Wildfire13%Earthquakes13%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Avila Beach faces

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

Inland flooding

67% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtTsunamis

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesVolcanic activity

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 Avila Beach flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Avila Beach.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: San Luis Obispo County.

Disasters that hit Avila Beach

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Avila BeachDeclared for San Luis Obispo County only

2023

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

1 household applied for aid

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

10 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2003

Earthquake

1 household applied for aid

San Luis Obispo County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Avila Beach

Avila Beach and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Avila Beachmostly inland floodingVery high

Pismo Beachmostly inland floodingVery high

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. Avila Beach 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 Avila Beach’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Avila Beach. 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.