Natural hazards · Mendocino

Mendocino, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mendocino comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mendocino?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mendocino to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes56%Inland flooding34%Wildfire9%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Mendocino faces

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

Earthquakes

56% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtAvalanches

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 Mendocino flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Mendocino County.

Disasters that hit Mendocino

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MendocinoDeclared for Mendocino County only

2023

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

2 households applied for aid

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

4 households applied for aid

2020

Wildfires

36 households applied for aid

2017

Wildfires

33 households applied for aid

Mendocino County has had 26 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. Mendocino 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 Mendocino’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Mendocino. 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.

Mendocino, CA natural hazards

How exposed is Mendocino?

What Mendocino faces

Earthquakes

Inland flooding

Wildfire

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Mendocino flood?

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

Wildfires

Wildfires

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby