Natural hazards · Shasta

Shasta, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shasta comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1979. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Shasta?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shasta to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire60%Inland flooding32%Earthquakes6%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Shasta faces

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

Wildfire

60% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold 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 Shasta flood?

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

1paid claims since 1979

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Shasta County.

Disasters that hit Shasta

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ShastaDeclared for Shasta County only

2020

Wildfires

5 households applied for aid

2018

Wildfires and High Winds

313 households applied for aid $1.4M aid approved

Shasta County has had 35 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Shasta

Shasta and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Keswickmostly wildfiresVery high

Centervillemostly wildfiresVery high

Shastamostly wildfiresVery high

Reddingmostly inland floodingVery 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. Shasta covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Shasta’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Shasta. 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 Shasta total about $923K 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.