Natural hazards · Los Altos Hills

Los Altos Hills, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Los Altos Hills comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 1992. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Los Altos Hills?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Los Altos Hills to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes70%Inland flooding28%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Los Altos Hills faces

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

Earthquakes

70% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce 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 Altos Hills flood?

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

6paid claims since 1992

$46Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19922026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 4 claims, $23K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Los Altos Hills 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 Clara County.

Disasters that hit Los Altos Hills

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Los Altos HillsDeclared for Santa Clara County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid $70K to the Town of Los Altos Hills for repairs

Santa Clara County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

Around Los Altos Hills

Los Altos Hills and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Palo Altomostly earthquakesVery high

Los Altosmostly earthquakesVery high

Loyolamostly earthquakesVery high

Los Altos Hillsmostly 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 Altos Hills covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Los Altos Hills’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Los Altos Hills. 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 Altos Hills total about $13.3M 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.