Natural hazards · Needles

Needles, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Needles comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1999. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Needles?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Needles to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding94%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Needles faces

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

Inland flooding

94% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Needles flood?

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

1paid claims since 1999

$9Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19992026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: San Bernardino County.

Disasters that hit Needles

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into NeedlesDeclared for San Bernardino County only

2023

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

2 households applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

1 household applied for aid

2003

Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflow and Debris Flow Directly Related T

1 household applied for aid

San Bernardino County has had 56 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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. Needles 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 Needles’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Needles. 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.