Natural hazards · Hillcrest

Hillcrest, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hillcrest comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hillcrest?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hillcrest to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes57%Inland flooding25%Heat waves18%

By hazard

What Hillcrest faces

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

Earthquakes

57% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Hillcrest flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kern County.

Disasters that hit Hillcrest

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Kern County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Hillcrest itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into HillcrestDeclared for Kern County only

Kern County has had 37 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Hillcrest

Hillcrest and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bakersfieldmostly earthquakesHigh

Bakersfield Country Clubmostly inland floodingModerate

Hillcrestmostly earthquakesModerate

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. Hillcrest covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hillcrest’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Hillcrest. 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 Hillcrest total about $2.8M 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.