Natural hazards · Lake Nacimiento

Lake Nacimiento, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lake Nacimiento comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lake Nacimiento?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lake Nacimiento to be higher than in 93% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire40%Inland flooding31%Earthquakes21%Landslides6%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Lake Nacimiento faces

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

Wildfire

40% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Earthquakes

21% of expected damage

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

Landslides

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesStrong 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 Lake Nacimiento flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Lake Nacimiento 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 Luis Obispo County.

Disasters that hit Lake Nacimiento

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Lake Nacimiento itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Lake Nacimiento.

Brought FEMA money into Lake NacimientoDeclared for San Luis Obispo County only

2003

Earthquake

1 household applied for aid

San Luis Obispo County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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