Natural hazards · Hercules

Hercules, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hercules comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hercules?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hercules to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes51%Inland flooding44%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Hercules faces

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

Earthquakes

51% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesAvalanches

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 Hercules flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Contra Costa County.

Disasters that hit Hercules

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HerculesDeclared for Contra Costa County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

9 households applied for aid $300 aid approved

Contra Costa County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Hercules

Hercules and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pinolemostly inland floodingVery high

Rodeomostly earthquakesVery high

Vallejomostly earthquakesVery high

Herculesmostly 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. Hercules covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hercules’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Hercules. 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 Hercules total about $9.5M 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.