Natural hazards · El Verano

El Verano, CA natural hazards

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

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in El Verano to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding51%Earthquakes35%Wildfire8%Drought6%Everything else1%

By hazard

What El Verano faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

35% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Wildfire

8% of expected damage

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

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 40 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Verano flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sonoma County.

Disasters that hit El Verano

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into El VeranoDeclared for Sonoma County only

2017

Wildfires

2 households applied for aid

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

1 household applied for aid

Sonoma County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around El Verano

El Verano and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Boyes Hot Springsmostly inland floodingVery high

El Veranomostly inland floodingVery high

Sonomamostly inland floodingVery 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 Verano 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 Verano’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to El Verano. 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.