Natural hazards · Ferndale

Ferndale, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ferndale comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1996. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ferndale?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ferndale to be higher than in 98% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding36%Earthquakes34%Tsunamis26%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Ferndale faces

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

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

34% of expected damage

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

Tsunamis

26% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsCold wavesVolcanic 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 Ferndale flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Ferndale, from FEMA’s records.

3paid claims since 1996

$20Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Humboldt County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Ferndale

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FerndaleDeclared for Humboldt County only

2017

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$5K to the City of Ferndale for repairs

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

$43K to the City of Ferndale for repairs

Humboldt County has had 23 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. Ferndale 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 Ferndale’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Ferndale. 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.