Mountain Ranch’s biggest natural hazard is wildfire
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mountain Ranch comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Mountain Ranch’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Mountain Ranch flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Mountain Ranch. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Mountain Ranch isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Calaveras County.How exposed is Mountain Ranch?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 89% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.
Rated higher than 844 of the 1,619 California towns we cover.
Mountain Ranch covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
What Mountain Ranch faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
Inland flooding
2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Mountain Ranch
Disasters that paid out in Mountain Ranch itself (aid to households or repair grants to Mountain Ranch) and its biggest flood years.
- 2022Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides27 households applied for aid$90K aid approved
- 2015Valley Fire and Butte Fire533 households applied for aid$2.5M aid approved
Calaveras County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.
Old photos of Mountain Ranch after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Mountain Ranch archive →Get ready for what Mountain Ranch actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in January–March
The month each of Calaveras County’s 19 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Mountain Ranch’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Mountain Ranch.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels. Across Mountain Ranch, expected losses total about $2.7M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Mountain Ranch.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.