Natural hazards · El Rio

El Rio, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in El Rio comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is El Rio?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in El Rio to be higher than in 97% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes68%Inland flooding32%

By hazard

What El Rio faces

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

Earthquakes

68% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesLandslidesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 El Rio flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ventura County.

Disasters that hit El Rio

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Ventura County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching El Rio itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into El RioDeclared for Ventura County only

Ventura County has had 44 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around El Rio

El Rio and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

El Riomostly earthquakesVery high

Oxnardmostly earthquakesVery high

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 Rio covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to El Rio’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to El Rio. 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 El Rio total about $4.8M 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.