Photo: Cristiano Tomás · CC BY-SA 4.0FEMA puts Cambrian Park’s expected hazard damage per building above that of 94% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cambrian Park gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns, #509 of 847 in California. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (54%), then river and rain flooding (46%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
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
What Cambrian Park faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Earthquakes
River and rain flooding
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.
What’s behind Cambrian Park’s grade
Earthquakes are 54% of the building damage FEMA expects in Cambrian Park, and Cambrian Park’s rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts. Next is river and rain flooding at 46% (higher than 87% of U.S. census tracts).
D #509 of 847 in California; higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Cambrian Park’s residents live in 4 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical California town has higher expected damage than 92% of U.S. towns; within the state, Cambrian Park has more expected damage per building than 60% of California towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $3.1M a year in losses across Cambrian Park: $2.7M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Cambrian Park flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cambrian Park. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Cambrian Park isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Santa Clara County.The storms Cambrian Park remembers
None of the 19 disasters declared for Santa Clara County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cambrian Park itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Santa Clara County has had 19 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 3 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Santa Clara County, 2002–2020.
Get ready for what Cambrian Park faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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 Cambrian Park
Is Cambrian Park at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Cambrian Park has higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #509 of 847 in California. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (54%) and river and rain flooding (46%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Cambrian Park 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 Santa Clara County, 22% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Cambrian Park?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Cambrian Park’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Cambrian Park at risk from earthquakes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (54%), and Cambrian Park’s rate for it is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cambrian Park.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cambrian Park’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.