Natural hazards · Salinas

Salinas, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Salinas comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 22 claims here since 1982. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Salinas?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Salinas to be higher than in 91% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes66%Inland flooding30%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Salinas faces

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

Earthquakes

66% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Salinas flood?

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

22paid claims since 1982

$243Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19822026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 14 claims, $79K
California Atmospheric River: 1 claim, $45K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Salinas is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Monterey County.

Disasters that hit Salinas

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SalinasDeclared for Monterey County only

2023

Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

1,434 households applied for aid $3.5M aid approved $2.7M to the City of Salinas for repairs

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

348 households applied for aid $794K aid approved $414K to the City of Salinas for repairs

2020

Wildfires

188 households applied for aid $26K aid approved

2017

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides

$354K to the City of Salinas for repairs

Monterey County has had 30 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. Salinas covers 31 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Salinas’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Salinas. 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 Salinas total about $97.8M 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.