Natural hazards · Glen Ellen

Glen Ellen, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Glen Ellen comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Glen Ellen?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Glen Ellen to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding64%Earthquakes26%Wildfire10%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Glen Ellen faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

26% of expected damage

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

Wildfire

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic 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 Glen Ellen flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Glen Ellen.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Glen Ellen 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

7homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Glen Ellen

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Glen EllenDeclared for Sonoma County only

2020

Wildfires

22 households applied for aid

2017

Wildfires

714 households applied for aid $854K aid approved

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

32 households applied for aid $72K aid approved

Sonoma County has had 29 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. Glen Ellen 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 Glen Ellen’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Glen Ellen. 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.

Glen Ellen, CA natural hazards

How exposed is Glen Ellen?

What Glen Ellen faces

Inland flooding

Earthquakes

Wildfire

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Glen Ellen flood?

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Wildfires

Wildfires

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby