Natural hazards · Ladera

Ladera, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ladera comes from earthquakes, 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 Ladera?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ladera to be higher than in 91% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes68%Inland flooding22%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Ladera faces

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

Earthquakes

68% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Ladera flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: San Mateo County.

Disasters that hit Ladera

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LaderaDeclared for San Mateo County only

San Mateo County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Ladera

Ladera and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Laderamostly earthquakesVery high

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