Natural hazards · Midway

Midway, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Midway comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 1992. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Midway?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Midway to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes77%Inland flooding22%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Midway faces

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

Earthquakes

77% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 Midway flood?

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

6paid claims since 1992

$18Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19922026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 1 claim, $2K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Orange County.

Disasters that hit Midway

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MidwayDeclared for Orange County only

2017

Wildfires

3 households applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

2 households applied for aid $313 aid approved

Orange County has had 36 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Midway

Midway and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Midway Citymostly earthquakesVery high

Westminstermostly earthquakesVery high

Huntington Beachmostly 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. Midway covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Midway’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Midway. 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 Midway total about $5.3M 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.