Natural hazards · Placerville

Placerville, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Placerville comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1980. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Placerville?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Placerville to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and wildfires.

Avalanches36%Wildfire32%Inland flooding27%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Placerville faces

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

Avalanches

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Wildfire

32% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtTsunamis

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 Placerville flood?

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

7paid claims since 1980

$303Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

California Atmospheric River: 1 claim, $133K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: El Dorado County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Placerville

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PlacervilleDeclared for El Dorado County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$34K to the City of Placerville for repairs

2017

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$341K to the City of Placerville for repairs

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

18 households applied for aid $19K aid approved

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

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