Natural hazards · Independence

Independence, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Independence comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Independence?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Independence to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and heat waves.

Avalanches54%Heat waves20%Inland flooding13%Earthquakes12%

By hazard

What Independence faces

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

Avalanches

54% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Heat waves

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

12% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsTsunamis

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 Independence flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Inyo County.

Disasters that hit Independence

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into IndependenceDeclared for Inyo County only

Inyo County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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. Independence 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 Independence’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Independence. 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.