Natural hazards · Cerritos

Cerritos, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cerritos comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1998. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cerritos?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cerritos to be higher than in 89% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes60%Inland flooding39%

By hazard

What Cerritos faces

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

Earthquakes

60% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 Cerritos flood?

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

3paid claims since 1998

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19982026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 3 claims, $4K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Cerritos 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 Cerritos

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CerritosDeclared for Los Angeles County only

2025

Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds

60 households applied for aid $300 aid approved

2020

Wildfires

6 households applied for aid

2017

Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflows, and Debris Flows

1 household applied for aid

2007

Wildfires, Flooding, Mud Flows, and Debris Flows

2 households applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

25 households applied for aid $12K aid approved

2003

Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflow and Debris Flow Directly Related T

13 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

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

Around Cerritos

Cerritos and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

La Palmamostly earthquakesVery high

Artesiamostly earthquakesVery high

Norwalkmostly earthquakesVery high

Cerritosmostly earthquakesVery high

Lakewoodmostly earthquakesVery high

Santa Fe Springsmostly earthquakesVery high

Bellflowermostly earthquakesVery high

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. Cerritos covers 11 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Cerritos’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Cerritos. 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 Cerritos total about $45.5M 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.