Natural hazards · Bear Valley

Bear Valley, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bear Valley comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bear Valley?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bear Valley to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and heat waves.

Wildfire36%Heat waves32%Inland flooding23%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Bear Valley faces

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

Wildfire

36% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

32% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Bear Valley flood?

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

Disasters that hit Bear Valley

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Mariposa County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Bear Valley itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Bear ValleyDeclared for Mariposa County only

Mariposa County has had 21 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. Bear Valley 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 Bear Valley’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Bear Valley. 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.