Natural hazards · Lakeside

Lakeside, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lakeside comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is 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 Lakeside?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lakeside to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes57%Inland flooding32%Heat waves8%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Lakeside faces

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

Earthquakes

57% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWildfireStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesLandslidesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Lakeside flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kern County.

Disasters that hit Lakeside

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LakesideDeclared for Kern County only

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

23 households applied for aid $32K aid approved

Kern County has had 37 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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