Natural hazards · El Portal

El Portal, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in El Portal comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very 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 El Portal?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in El Portal to be higher than in 99% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and wildfires.

Inland flooding59%Wildfire27%Heat waves5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What El Portal faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

27% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamis

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 El Portal flood?

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

Disasters that hit El Portal

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into El PortalDeclared for Mariposa County only

2023

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

2 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Mariposa County has had 21 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. El Portal 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 El Portal’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to El Portal. 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.