Natural hazards · North Fork

North Fork, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in North Fork comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is North Fork?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in North Fork to be higher than in 92% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire43%Inland flooding43%Earthquakes6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What North Fork faces

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

Wildfire

43% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamis

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 Fork flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in North Fork.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Madera County.

Disasters that hit North Fork

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into North ForkDeclared for Madera County only

2023

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

161 households applied for aid $732K aid approved

2020

Wildfires

41 households applied for aid $40K aid approved

Madera County has had 23 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. North Fork 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 North Fork’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to North Fork. 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.