Natural hazards · Buttonwillow

Buttonwillow, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buttonwillow comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is 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 Buttonwillow?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buttonwillow to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes54%Inland flooding28%Heat waves14%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Buttonwillow faces

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

Earthquakes

54% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Buttonwillow flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kern County.

Disasters that hit Buttonwillow

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ButtonwillowDeclared for Kern County only

2023

Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

2 households applied for aid

Kern County has had 37 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. Buttonwillow 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 Buttonwillow’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Buttonwillow. 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.