Natural hazards · Mountain View

Mountain View, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mountain View comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1995. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mountain View?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mountain View to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes72%Inland flooding28%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Mountain View faces

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

Earthquakes

72% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtTsunamis

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesAvalanchesVolcanic 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 Mountain View flood?

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

5paid claims since 1995

$11Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19952026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 4 claims, $8K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Mountain View is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Santa Clara County.

Disasters that hit Mountain View

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mountain ViewDeclared for Santa Clara County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

4 households applied for aid

2020

Wildfires

34 households applied for aid

2017

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$374K to the City of Mountain View for repairs

Santa Clara County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

Around Mountain View

Mountain View and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Palo Altomostly earthquakesVery high

Los Altosmostly earthquakesVery high

Mountain Viewmostly earthquakesVery high

Sunnyvalemostly 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. Mountain View covers 18 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mountain View’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mountain View. 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 Mountain View total about $64.0M 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.