Natural hazards · Los Gatos

Los Gatos, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Los Gatos comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1980. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Los Gatos?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Los Gatos to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes73%Inland flooding25%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Los Gatos faces

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

Earthquakes

73% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold 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 Gatos flood?

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

10paid claims since 1980

$52Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 1 claim, $1K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Los Gatos 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 Gatos

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Los GatosDeclared for Santa Clara County only

2023

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

49 households applied for aid $302K aid approved

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

178 households applied for aid $838K aid approved $172K to the Town of Los Gatos for repairs

2020

Wildfires

73 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

2017

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$93K to the Town of Los Gatos for repairs

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

Around Los Gatos

Los Gatos and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

San Josemostly earthquakesVery high

Saratogamostly earthquakesVery high

Campbellmostly earthquakesVery high

Los Gatosmostly earthquakesVery high

Monte Serenomostly 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 Gatos covers 7 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Los Gatos’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Los Gatos. 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 Gatos total about $31.3M 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.