Natural hazards · Mammoth Lakes

Mammoth Lakes, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mammoth Lakes comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2023. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mammoth Lakes?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mammoth Lakes to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and avalanches.

Earthquakes40%Avalanches29%Inland flooding25%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Mammoth Lakes faces

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

Earthquakes

40% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Avalanches

29% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 0% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtTsunamis

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 Mammoth Lakes flood?

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

2paid claims since 2023

$26Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20232026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Mono County.

Disasters that hit Mammoth Lakes

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mammoth LakesDeclared for Mono County only

2023

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

455 households applied for aid $390K aid approved $732K to the Town of Mammoth Lakes for repairs

2017

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$67K to the Town of Mammoth Lakes for repairs

Mono County has had 10 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. Mammoth Lakes covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mammoth Lakes’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Mammoth Lakes. 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 Mammoth Lakes total about $4.5M 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.