Natural hazards · Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Squaw Valley comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Squaw Valley?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Squaw Valley to be higher than in 94% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire58%Inland flooding37%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Squaw Valley faces

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

Wildfire

58% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtTsunamis

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 Squaw Valley flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Fresno County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Squaw Valley

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Squaw ValleyDeclared for Fresno County only

2020

Wildfires

5 households applied for aid

Fresno County has had 18 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. Squaw Valley covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Squaw Valley’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Squaw Valley. 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 Squaw Valley total about $1.5M 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.