Natural hazards · Chester

Chester, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chester comes from inland flooding, 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 Chester?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chester to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding58%Earthquakes23%Wildfire15%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Chester faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Earthquakes

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Wildfire

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtTsunamis

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 Chester flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Plumas County.

Disasters that hit Chester

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChesterDeclared for Plumas County only

2021

Wildfires

145 households applied for aid $64K aid approved

Plumas County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

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