Natural hazards · Big Lagoon

Big Lagoon, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Lagoon comes from tsunamis, 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 Big Lagoon?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Lagoon to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from tsunamis and earthquakes.

Tsunamis53%Earthquakes25%Inland flooding16%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Big Lagoon faces

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

Tsunamis

53% of expected damage

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

Earthquakes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsCold wavesVolcanic 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 Big Lagoon flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Humboldt County.

Disasters that hit Big Lagoon

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Humboldt County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Big Lagoon itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Big LagoonDeclared for Humboldt County only

Humboldt County has had 23 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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