Natural hazards · Palos Verdes Estates

Palos Verdes Estates, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Palos Verdes Estates comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1980. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Palos Verdes Estates?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Palos Verdes Estates to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes54%Inland flooding45%

By hazard

What Palos Verdes Estates faces

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

Earthquakes

54% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningTsunamis

Not a risk here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic 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 Palos Verdes Estates flood?

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

10paid claims since 1980

$40Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 1 claim, $13K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Los Angeles County.

Disasters that hit Palos Verdes Estates

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Palos Verdes EstatesDeclared for Los Angeles County only

2025

Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds

4 households applied for aid

2017

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$14K to the City of Palos Verdes Estates for repairs

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mud and Debris Flows

$59K to the City of Palos Verdes Estates for repairs

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

5 households applied for aid

Los Angeles County has had 74 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Palos Verdes Estates

Palos Verdes Estates and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Torrancemostly earthquakesVery high

Palos Verdes Estatesmostly earthquakesHigh

Rolling Hills Estatesmostly earthquakesHigh

Rancho Palos Verdesmostly earthquakesHigh

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. Palos Verdes Estates covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Palos Verdes Estates’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Palos Verdes Estates. 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 Palos Verdes Estates total about $10.3M 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.