Natural hazards · Chowchilla

Chowchilla, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chowchilla comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chowchilla?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chowchilla to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes51%Inland flooding33%Heat waves11%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Chowchilla faces

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

Earthquakes

51% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 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 Chowchilla flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Madera County.

Disasters that hit Chowchilla

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChowchillaDeclared for Madera County only

2023

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

10 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2020

Wildfires

5 households applied for aid

Madera County has had 23 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. Chowchilla covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Chowchilla’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Chowchilla. 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 Chowchilla total about $3.4M 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.