Natural hazards · Interlaken

Interlaken, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Interlaken comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 94 claims here since 1982.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Interlaken?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Earthquakes61%Inland flooding22%Drought16%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Interlaken faces

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

Earthquakes

61% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

16% of expected damage

Recorded about 39 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Interlaken flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Interlaken, from FEMA’s records.

94paid claims since 1982

$3.4Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19822026

Biggest named events

California Atmospheric River: 62 claims, $3.0M
Pineapple Express - Southern: 6 claims, $89K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Santa Cruz County.

Disasters that hit Interlaken

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into InterlakenDeclared for Santa Cruz County only

Santa Cruz County has had 29 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Interlaken

Interlaken and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Interlakenmostly earthquakesVery high

Corralitosmostly earthquakesVery high

Watsonvillemostly earthquakesVery high

Amestimostly 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. Interlaken covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Interlaken’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Interlaken. 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 Interlaken total about $9.9M 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.