Natural hazards · West Bishop

West Bishop, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in West Bishop comes from heat waves, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2012.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is West Bishop?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in West Bishop to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from heat waves and earthquakes.

Heat waves45%Earthquakes29%Inland flooding25%Everything else2%

By hazard

What West Bishop faces

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

Heat waves

45% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

29% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherWildfireStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesLandslidesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Bishop flood?

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

1paid claims since 2012

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20122026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Inyo County.

Disasters that hit West Bishop

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into West BishopDeclared for Inyo County only

Inyo County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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 Bishop covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to West Bishop’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to West Bishop. 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 Bishop total about $2.7M 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.