Photo: GeorgeLouis at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0More hazard damage per building is expected in Coalinga than in 92% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Coalinga gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns, #406 of 847 in California. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (53%), then river and rain flooding (37%). 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 Coalinga 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
Wildfire
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 Coalinga’s grade
Earthquakes are 53% of the building damage FEMA expects in Coalinga, and Coalinga’s rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 10%, at a rate in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
D #406 of 847 in California; higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Coalinga’s residents live in 3 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, Coalinga has less expected damage per building than 52% of California towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $25.9M a year in losses across Coalinga: $10.5M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Coalinga flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Coalinga. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Coalinga isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Fresno County.The storms Coalinga remembers
None of the 15 disasters declared for Fresno County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Coalinga itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Fresno County has had 15 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 2 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Fresno County, 2016–2020.
Get ready for what Coalinga 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.
- 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.
- 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 Coalinga
Is Coalinga at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Coalinga has higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #406 of 847 in California. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (53%) and river and rain flooding (37%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Coalinga 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 Fresno County, 20% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Coalinga?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Coalinga’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Coalinga at risk from earthquakes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (53%), and Coalinga’s rate for it is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Coalinga.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Coalinga’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.