Natural hazards · La Selva Beach

La Selva Beach, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in La Selva Beach comes from drought, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is La Selva Beach?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in La Selva Beach to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and earthquakes.

Drought39%Earthquakes31%Inland flooding29%Everything else1%

By hazard

What La Selva Beach faces

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

Drought

39% of expected damage

Recorded about 40 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

31% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamis

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesVolcanic 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 La Selva Beach flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in La Selva Beach.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. La Selva Beach 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 La Selva Beach

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in La Selva Beach itself: aid to households, or repair grants to La Selva Beach.

Brought FEMA money into La Selva BeachDeclared for Santa Cruz County only

2023

Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

3 households applied for aid

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

Around La Selva Beach

La Selva Beach and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Aptos Hills-Larkin Valleymostly earthquakesVery high

La Selva Beachmostly droughtVery high

Rio del Marmostly 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. La Selva Beach 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 La Selva Beach’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to La Selva Beach. 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.