Natural hazards · Rutherford

Rutherford, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rutherford comes from drought, 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 Rutherford?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rutherford to be higher than in 94% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought46%Inland flooding27%Earthquakes23%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Rutherford faces

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

Drought

46% of expected damage

Recorded about 52 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce 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 Rutherford flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Napa County.

Disasters that hit Rutherford

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RutherfordDeclared for Napa County only

2017

Wildfires

2 households applied for aid

2014

Earthquake

1 household applied for aid $8K aid approved

2005

Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides

1 household applied for aid

Napa County has had 31 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. Rutherford 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 Rutherford’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Rutherford. 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.