Natural hazards · Willows

Willows, CA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Willows comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 69 claims here since 1983.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Willows?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Willows to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes57%Inland flooding28%Heat waves8%Drought6%

By hazard

What Willows faces

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

Earthquakes

57% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 65 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailWinter weatherWildfireStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesLandslidesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Willows flood?

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

69paid claims since 1983

$601Kpaid to owners

9homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

Pineapple Express - Southern: 49 claims, $494K

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. Willows isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Glenn County.

Disasters that hit Willows

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WillowsDeclared for Glenn County only

Glenn County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Willows covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Willows’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Willows. 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 Willows total about $4.7M 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.