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ButtonwillowPhoto: Jey0h · CC BY 3.0
C−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Buttonwillow · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Buttonwillow faces more hazard damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Buttonwillow gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (60%), then river and rain flooding (37%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

Earthquakes 60%River and rain flooding 37%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 84%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
C−
in California · higher than 84% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
Earthquakes
60% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 22 declared for Kern County
By hazard

What Buttonwillow faces

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

Earthquakes

60%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 7% of U.S. census tracts

River and rain flooding

37%of expected building damage
About average · lower than 51% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Wildfire Tornadoes Hail Strong wind Winter storms Heat waves Landslides Lightning
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts heat waves at 14% of Buttonwillow’s expected losses. Heat waves do little damage to buildings (0.0%), 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 Buttonwillow’s grade

Earthquakes are 60% of the building damage FEMA expects in Buttonwillow, and Buttonwillow’s rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 7% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 2%, at a rate in the top 9% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Buttonwillow sits
Buttonwillow
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C− higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
Earthquakes60%River and rain flooding37%Everything else2%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.3M a year in losses across Buttonwillow: $1.6M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Buttonwillow’s 1,337 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Stebbins CDP (1,423 residents) and Mexican Colony CDP (283 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 Buttonwillow flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Buttonwillow. 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

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

Insurance rates: Kern County.
Disasters

The storms Buttonwillow remembers

None of the 22 disasters declared for Kern County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Buttonwillow itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in ButtonwillowKern County only

Kern County has had 22 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 15 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Kern County, 2002–2024.

Be ready

Get ready for what Buttonwillow faces

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

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 ↗
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 ↗
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 Buttonwillow

Is Buttonwillow at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Buttonwillow has higher expected damage per building than 84% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (60%) and river and rain flooding (37%). 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 Buttonwillow 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 Kern County, 20% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.1% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Buttonwillow?

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

Is Buttonwillow at risk from earthquakes?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (60%), and Buttonwillow’s rate for it is in the top 7% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Buttonwillow.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Buttonwillow’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.