Natural hazards · Bell Gardens

Bell Gardens, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bell Gardens comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bell Gardens?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bell Gardens to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes79%Inland flooding21%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Bell Gardens faces

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

Earthquakes

79% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Bell Gardens flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Los Angeles County.

Disasters that hit Bell Gardens

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Bell Gardens itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Bell Gardens.

Brought FEMA money into Bell GardensDeclared for Los Angeles County only

2025

Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds

116 households applied for aid $49K aid approved

2020

Wildfires

10 households applied for aid

2018

Wildfires

1 household applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

7 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2003

Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflow and Debris Flow Directly Related T

3 households applied for aid

Los Angeles County has had 74 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Bell Gardens

Bell Gardens and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bell Gardensmostly earthquakesVery high

Commercemostly earthquakesVery high

Downeymostly earthquakesVery high

Bellmostly earthquakesVery high

Cudahymostly earthquakesHigh

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. Bell Gardens covers 9 census tracts, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Bell Gardens total about $16.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.