Natural hazards · Oildale

Oildale, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oildale comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Oildale?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oildale to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes52%Inland flooding31%Heat waves17%

By hazard

What Oildale faces

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

Earthquakes

52% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Oildale flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kern County.

Disasters that hit Oildale

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Kern County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Oildale itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into OildaleDeclared for Kern County only

Kern County has had 37 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Oildale

Oildale and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Bakersfieldmostly earthquakesHigh

Oildalemostly earthquakesModerate

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. Oildale covers 8 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Oildale’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Oildale. 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 Oildale total about $7.9M 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.