Natural hazards · Los Alamos

Los Alamos, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Los Alamos comes from drought, 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 Los Alamos?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Los Alamos to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and landslides.

Drought33%Landslides31%Inland flooding26%Wildfire6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Los Alamos faces

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

Drought

33% of expected damage

Recorded about 76 times a year in the area

Landslides

31% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesStrong windLightning

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 Los Alamos flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Santa Barbara County.

Disasters that hit Los Alamos

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Los AlamosDeclared for Santa Barbara County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

4 households applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

2 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

2003

Earthquake

1 household applied for aid $943 aid approved

Santa Barbara County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

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

Los Alamos, CA natural hazards

How exposed is Los Alamos?

What Los Alamos faces

Drought

Landslides

Inland flooding

Wildfire

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Los Alamos flood?

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

Earthquake

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby