Natural hazards · French Gulch

French Gulch, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in French Gulch comes from wildfires, 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 French Gulch?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Wildfire66%Inland flooding26%Earthquakes7%Everything else1%

By hazard

What French Gulch faces

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

Wildfire

66% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtTsunamis

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 French Gulch flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in French Gulch.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Shasta County.

Disasters that hit French Gulch

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into French GulchDeclared for Shasta County only

2020

Wildfires

3 households applied for aid

2018

Wildfires and High Winds

163 households applied for aid $756K aid approved

Shasta County has had 35 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. French Gulch 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 French Gulch’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to French Gulch. 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.