Natural hazards · Sunol

Sunol, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sunol comes from inland flooding, 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 Sunol?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sunol to be higher than in 93% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding44%Earthquakes33%Landslides11%Wildfire11%Everything else1%

By hazard

What Sunol faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

33% of expected damage

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

Landslides

11% of expected damage

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

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamis

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 Sunol flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Alameda County.

Disasters that hit Sunol

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SunolDeclared for Alameda County only

2022

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

27 households applied for aid $368K aid approved

Alameda County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Sunol

Sunol and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pleasantonmostly earthquakesVery high

Sunolmostly inland floodingVery high

Fremontmostly earthquakesVery high

Haywardmostly earthquakesVery 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. Sunol is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sunol’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Sunol. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.