Westside’s biggest natural hazard is drought
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Westside comes from drought, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.
What stands out about Westside’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Westside flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Westside. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Westside 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.How exposed is Westside?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought.
Calmer than 1,300 of the 1,619 California towns we cover.
Westside is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Westside faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Drought
Earthquakes
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Fresno County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Westside itself in FEMA’s records.
Fresno County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Get ready for what Westside actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in December–February
The month each of Fresno County’s 18 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Westside’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Westside.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Westside.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.