Natural hazards · Los Alamitos

Los Alamitos, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Los Alamitos comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1983. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Los Alamitos?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Los Alamitos to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes62%Inland flooding37%

By hazard

What Los Alamitos faces

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

Earthquakes

62% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Los Alamitos flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Los Alamitos, from FEMA’s records.

2paid claims since 1983

$6Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Orange County.

Disasters that hit Los Alamitos

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Los Alamitos itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Los Alamitos.

Brought FEMA money into Los AlamitosDeclared for Orange County only

2017

Wildfires

16 households applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

6 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

Orange County has had 36 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Los Alamitos

Los Alamitos and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Seal Beachmostly inland floodingVery high

Rossmoormostly inland floodingVery high

Long Beachmostly earthquakesVery high

Los Alamitosmostly earthquakesVery high

Cypressmostly earthquakesVery high

Garden Grovemostly 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. Los Alamitos covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Los Alamitos’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Los Alamitos. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Los Alamitos total about $12.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.