Natural hazards · Ballard

Ballard, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ballard comes from landslides, 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 Ballard?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ballard to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from landslides and inland flooding.

Landslides45%Inland flooding21%Wildfire17%Drought11%Earthquakes6%

By hazard

What Ballard faces

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

Landslides

45% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

17% of expected damage

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

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 81 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Ballard flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Santa Barbara County.

Disasters that hit Ballard

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BallardDeclared for Santa Barbara County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid $222 aid approved

Santa Barbara County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

Around Ballard

Ballard and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ballardmostly landslidesVery high

Los Olivosmostly landslidesVery high

Santa Ynezmostly 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. Ballard 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 Ballard’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Ballard. 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.