Natural hazards · San Miguel

San Miguel, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in San Miguel comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 1980. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is San Miguel?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in San Miguel to be higher than in 92% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes49%Inland flooding49%Everything else3%

By hazard

What San Miguel faces

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

Earthquakes

49% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 San Miguel flood?

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

8paid claims since 1980

$79Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Contra Costa County.

Disasters that hit San Miguel

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into San MiguelDeclared for Contra Costa County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

21 households applied for aid $32K aid approved

Contra Costa County has had 17 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. San Miguel covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to San Miguel’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to San Miguel. 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 San Miguel total about $3.8M 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.