Natural hazards · South Taft

South Taft, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in South Taft comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is South Taft?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in South Taft to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes72%Inland flooding19%Heat waves9%

By hazard

What South Taft faces

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

Earthquakes

72% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 South Taft flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. South Taft 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 South Taft

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Kern County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching South Taft itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into South TaftDeclared for Kern County only

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. South Taft covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to South Taft’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to South Taft. 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 South Taft total about $1.7M 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.