Natural hazards · Potrero

Potrero, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Potrero comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Potrero?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Potrero to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires.

Wildfire91%Inland flooding5%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Potrero faces

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

Wildfire

91% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingIce 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 Potrero flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Potrero 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 Diego County.

Disasters that hit Potrero

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PotreroDeclared for San Diego County only

2024

Severe Storm and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

2007

Wildfires, Flooding, Mud Flows, and Debris Flows

217 households applied for aid $409K aid approved

2003

Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflow and Debris Flow Directly Related T

18 households applied for aid $972 aid approved

San Diego County has had 44 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. Potrero 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 Potrero’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Potrero. 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.