Natural hazards · Maricopa

Maricopa, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Maricopa comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Maricopa?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Maricopa to be higher than in 93% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes.

Earthquakes85%Inland flooding11%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Maricopa faces

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

Earthquakes

85% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Maricopa flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kern County.

Disasters that hit Maricopa

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MaricopaDeclared for Kern County only

2023

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

3 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

Kern County has had 37 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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. Maricopa 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 Maricopa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Maricopa. 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.