Natural hazards · California

California, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in California comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is California?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in California to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding43%Tornadoes20%Cold waves12%Strong wind8%Hail5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What California faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 27 years in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 California flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Branch County.

Disasters that hit California

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CaliforniaDeclared for Branch County only

Branch County has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around California

California and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Kinderhookmostly inland floodingLow

Camdenmostly inland floodingLow

Californiamostly inland floodingLow

Alganseemostly inland floodingLow

Fremontmostly inland floodingVery low

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. California is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to California’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of California. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.