Natural hazards · Little River

Little River, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Little River comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Little River?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Little River to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes57%Inland flooding28%Wildfire11%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Little River 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

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDrought

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 Little River flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Mendocino County.

Disasters that hit Little River

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Little RiverDeclared for Mendocino County only

2023

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

1 household applied for aid

2020

Wildfires

2 households applied for aid

2017

Wildfires

3 households applied for aid

Mendocino County has had 26 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. Little River 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 Little River’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Little River. 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.

Little River, CA natural hazards

How exposed is Little River?

What Little River faces

Earthquakes

Inland flooding

Wildfire

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Little River flood?

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Wildfires

Wildfires

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby