Natural hazards · Rail Road Flat

Rail Road Flat, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rail Road Flat 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 Rail Road Flat?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rail Road Flat to be higher than in 98% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire72%Inland flooding22%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Rail Road Flat faces

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

Wildfire

72% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesVolcanic 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 Rail Road Flat flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Rail Road Flat.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Calaveras County.

Disasters that hit Rail Road Flat

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Rail Road FlatDeclared for Calaveras County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

3 households applied for aid $11K aid approved

2015

Valley Fire and Butte Fire

37 households applied for aid $117K aid approved

Calaveras County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and fires.

Around Rail Road Flat

Rail Road Flat and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Rail Road Flatmostly wildfiresVery high

Glencoemostly wildfiresVery high

Wilseyvillemostly wildfiresVery high

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. Rail Road Flat 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 Rail Road Flat’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Rail Road Flat. 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.