Natural hazards · Meadow Valley

Meadow Valley, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Meadow Valley comes from wildfires, 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 Meadow Valley?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Meadow Valley to be higher than in 99% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire47%Inland flooding45%Earthquakes6%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Meadow Valley faces

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

Wildfire

47% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamis

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 Meadow Valley flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Plumas County.

Disasters that hit Meadow Valley

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Meadow ValleyDeclared for Plumas County only

2021

Wildfires

2 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Plumas County has had 20 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. Meadow Valley 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 Meadow Valley’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Meadow Valley. 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.