Colusa’s biggest natural hazard is drought
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Colusa comes from drought, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1983.
What stands out about Colusa’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
How exposed is Colusa?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and earthquakes.
Calmer than 1,485 of the 1,619 California towns we cover.
Colusa is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Colusa faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Drought
Earthquakes
Inland flooding
Does Colusa flood? Sometimes: 11 flood claims since 1983
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Colusa, from FEMA’s records.
- The Pineapple Express - Southern7 claims · $31K
Colusa isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Colusa County.Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Colusa County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Colusa itself in FEMA’s records.
Colusa County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Get ready for what Colusa actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in December–February
The month each of Colusa County’s 16 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Colusa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Colusa.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Colusa.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Weather alerts: National Weather Service. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.