Natural hazards · Bolinas

Bolinas, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bolinas comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 117 claims here since 1978. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bolinas?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bolinas to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes57%Inland flooding21%Tsunamis17%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Bolinas faces

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

Earthquakes

57% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tsunamis

17% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Bolinas flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Bolinas, from FEMA’s records.

117paid claims since 1978

$2.5Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 15 claims, $341K
California Atmospheric River: 9 claims, $447K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Marin County.

Disasters that hit Bolinas

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BolinasDeclared for Marin County only

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

4 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

Marin County has had 22 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. Bolinas covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bolinas’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Bolinas. 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 Bolinas total about $4.0M 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.