Natural hazards · North Fair Oaks

North Fair Oaks, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in North Fair Oaks comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1978.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is North Fair Oaks?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in North Fair Oaks to be higher than in 91% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes76%Inland flooding24%Everything else1%

By hazard

What North Fair Oaks faces

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

Earthquakes

76% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesLandslidesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 North Fair Oaks flood?

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

10paid claims since 1978

$744Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 3 claims, $37K
California Atmospheric River: 1 claim, $112K
Winter storm: 1 claim, $5K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. North Fair Oaks 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 Mateo County.

Disasters that hit North Fair Oaks

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for San Mateo County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching North Fair Oaks itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into North Fair OaksDeclared for San Mateo County only

San Mateo County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around North Fair Oaks

North Fair Oaks and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

North Fair Oaksmostly earthquakesVery high

Redwood Citymostly earthquakesVery high

Athertonmostly 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. North Fair Oaks covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to North Fair Oaks’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to North Fair Oaks. 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 North Fair Oaks total about $10.7M 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.