Natural hazards · West Athens

West Athens, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in West Athens 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 West Athens?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Earthquakes72%Inland flooding27%Everything else1%

By hazard

What West Athens 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 94% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 West Athens flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Los Angeles County.

Disasters that hit West Athens

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Los Angeles County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching West Athens itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into West AthensDeclared for Los Angeles County only

Los Angeles County has had 74 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around West Athens

West Athens and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hawthornemostly inland floodingVery high

Los Angelesmostly earthquakesVery high

West Athensmostly earthquakesVery high

Westmontmostly 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. West Athens covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to West Athens’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to West Athens. 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 West Athens total about $4.0M 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.