Natural hazards · Chualar

Chualar, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chualar comes from drought, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chualar?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Drought54%Earthquakes27%Inland flooding14%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Chualar faces

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

Drought

54% of expected damage

Recorded about 83 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

27% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Chualar flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Monterey County.

Disasters that hit Chualar

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChualarDeclared for Monterey County only

2023

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

7 households applied for aid $14K aid approved

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

6 households applied for aid $16K aid approved

2020

Wildfires

1 household applied for aid

Monterey County has had 30 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. Chualar 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 Chualar’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Chualar. 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.