Natural hazards · Twentynine Palms

Twentynine Palms, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Twentynine Palms comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 58 claims here since 2000. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Twentynine Palms?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Twentynine Palms to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding69%Earthquakes29%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Twentynine Palms faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

29% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesDroughtTsunamisVolcanic 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 Twentynine Palms flood?

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

58paid claims since 2000

$1.9Mpaid to owners

7homes flooded more than once

20002026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: San Bernardino County.

Disasters that hit Twentynine Palms

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Twentynine PalmsDeclared for San Bernardino County only

2023

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

18 households applied for aid $29K aid approved

2020

Wildfires

9 households applied for aid

2010

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Debris and Mud Flows

$25K to the City of Twentynine Palms for repairs

2007

Wildfires, Flooding, Mud Flows, and Debris Flows

3 households applied for aid

2004

Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides

6 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

San Bernardino County has had 56 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. Twentynine Palms covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Twentynine Palms’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Twentynine Palms. 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 Twentynine Palms total about $15.2M 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.