On FEMA’s figures, Desert View Highlands faces more hazard damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Desert View Highlands gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns, #490 of 847 in California. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (63%), 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 Desert View Highlands 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 Desert View Highlands’ grade
Earthquakes are 63% of the building damage FEMA expects in Desert View Highlands, and Desert View Highlands’ rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts. Next is river and rain flooding at 37% (higher than 77% of U.S. census tracts).
D #490 of 847 in California; higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Desert View Highlands’ residents live in 2 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, Desert View Highlands has more expected damage per building than 58% of California towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.8M a year in losses across Desert View Highlands: $1.5M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Desert View Highlands flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Desert View Highlands. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Desert View Highlands isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Los Angeles County.The storms Desert View Highlands remembers
None of the 40 disasters declared for Los Angeles County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Desert View Highlands itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Los Angeles County has had 40 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 44 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Los Angeles County, 2002–2025.
Get ready for what Desert View Highlands 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 Desert View Highlands
Is Desert View Highlands at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Desert View Highlands has higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #490 of 847 in California. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (63%) and river and rain flooding (37%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Desert View Highlands 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 Los Angeles County, 33% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Desert View Highlands?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Desert View Highlands’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Desert View Highlands at risk from earthquakes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (63%), and Desert View Highlands’ rate for it is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Desert View Highlands.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Desert View Highlands’ 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.