Storms, floods and disasters in Bradley
Bradley isn’t graded for hazard risk: Bradley has 112 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Bradley faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
River and rain flooding
Landslides
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.
Does Bradley flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bradley. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Bradley isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Monterey County.3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Bradley
Disasters that paid out in Bradley itself (aid to households or repair grants to Bradley), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2023Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides7 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
- 2022Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides24 households applied for aid$232K aid approved
- 2003Earthquake53 households applied for aid$133K aid approved
Monterey County has had 26 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 4 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Monterey County, 2008–2020.
Old photos of Bradley after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Bradley archive →Get ready for what Bradley faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
- Watch for new cracks, tilting trees or suddenly muddy streams after heavy rain.
- Stay off steep slopes in a downpour.
- Leave if you hear rumbling upslope.
- 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.
Questions about natural hazards in Bradley
Is Bradley 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 Monterey County, 23% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.1% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Bradley?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bradley’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Bradley?
By FEMA money that reached Bradley, Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2022): 24 households applied for aid, $232K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bradley.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bradley’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.