Natural hazards · Cayucos

Cayucos, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cayucos comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 16 claims here since 1983. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cayucos?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cayucos to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tsunamis.

Inland flooding48%Tsunamis35%Earthquakes12%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Cayucos faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tsunamis

35% of expected damage

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

Earthquakes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic 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 Cayucos flood?

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

16paid claims since 1983

$214Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 5 claims, $109K
California Atmospheric River: 2 claims, $56K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: San Luis Obispo County.

Disasters that hit Cayucos

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CayucosDeclared for San Luis Obispo County only

2023

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

10 households applied for aid $134K aid approved

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

43 households applied for aid $210K aid approved

2003

Earthquake

35 households applied for aid $50K aid approved

San Luis Obispo County has had 24 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. Cayucos covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Cayucos’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Cayucos. 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 Cayucos total about $2.4M 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.