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Big Pine landscapePhoto: Clinton Steeds from Los Angeles, USA · CC BY 2.0
DHazard risk
Natural hazards in Big Pine · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Big Pine faces more hazard damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Big Pine gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (57%), then earthquakes (40%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 57%Earthquakes 40%Wildfire 2%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

more than 86%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
D
in California · higher than 86% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
57% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 11 declared for Inyo County
By hazard

What Big Pine faces

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

River and rain flooding

57%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 79% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

40%of expected building damage
Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 Wildfire Lightning Avalanches top 0% Tornadoes Hail Strong wind Winter storms Cold waves Heat waves Landslides Volcanic activity top 0%
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsTsunamis
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts avalanches at 54% of Big Pine’s expected losses. Avalanches do little damage to buildings (0.1%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Big Pine’s grade

River and rain flooding is 57% of the building damage FEMA expects in Big Pine, and Big Pine’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 79% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 2%, at a rate in the top 9% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Big Pine sits
Big Pine
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D higher expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Big Pine’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding57%Earthquakes40%Everything else2%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $4.4M a year in losses across Big Pine: $962K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Big Pine’s 1,875 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Independence CDP (593 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Big Pine flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Big Pine. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Big Pine 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

The storms Big Pine remembers

None of the 11 disasters declared for Inyo County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Big Pine itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Big PineInyo County only

Inyo County has had 11 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Inyo County, 2007–2007.

Be ready

Get ready for what Big Pine faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
  • Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
  • Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Earthquakes
  • Drop, cover and hold on.
  • Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
  • Know how to shut off the gas.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Big Pine

Is Big Pine at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Big Pine has higher expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (57%) and earthquakes (40%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Is Big Pine in a flood zone?

Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Inyo County, 14% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Big Pine?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Big Pine’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

Is Big Pine at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (57%), and Big Pine’s rate for it is higher than 79% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Big Pine.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Big Pine’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.