Natural hazards · Shafter

Shafter, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shafter comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Shafter?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shafter to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes55%Inland flooding29%Heat waves13%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Shafter faces

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

Earthquakes

55% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold 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 Shafter flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kern County.

Disasters that hit Shafter

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ShafterDeclared for Kern County only

2023

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

13 households applied for aid $900 aid approved

2010

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Debris and Mud Flows

$61K to the City of Shafter for repairs

Kern County has had 37 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. Shafter covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Shafter’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Shafter. 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 Shafter total about $8.4M 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.