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DHazard risk
Natural hazards in Lone Pine · FEMA

FEMA puts Lone Pine’s expected hazard damage per building above that of 86% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lone Pine gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (65%), then earthquakes (30%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 65%Earthquakes 30%Wildfire 4%

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 86%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
D
in California · higher than 86% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
65% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 11 declared for Inyo County
By hazard

What Lone Pine faces

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

River and rain flooding

65%of expected building damage
Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

30%of expected building damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 Wildfire Landslides top 2% Avalanches top 0% Strong wind Lightning Tornadoes Hail Winter storms Cold waves Heat waves Volcanic activity top 0%
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsTsunamis
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts avalanches at 37% of Lone Pine’s expected losses. Avalanches do little damage to buildings (0.3%), 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 Lone Pine’s grade

River and rain flooding is 65% of the building damage FEMA expects in Lone Pine, and Lone Pine’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 84% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 4%, at a rate in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Lone Pine sits
Lone Pine
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D higher expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding65%Earthquakes30%Wildfire4%Everything else1%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $5.4M a year in losses across Lone Pine: $1.9M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Lone Pine’s 2,014 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Furnace Creek CDP (136 residents) and Olancha CDP (131 residents) and Tecopa CDP (120 residents) and Keeler CDP (71 residents) and Cartago CDP (62 residents) and Charleston View CDP (45 residents) and Homewood Canyon CDP (40 residents) and Darwin CDP (36 residents) and Shoshone CDP (22 residents) and Trona CDP (11 residents) and Pearsonville CDP (8 residents) and Valley Wells CDP (0 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 Lone Pine flood? No paid flood claims on record

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

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

Insurance rates: Inyo County.
Disasters

The storms Lone Pine remembers

None of the 11 disasters declared for Inyo County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Lone Pine itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Lone PineInyo County only

Inyo County has had 11 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 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Inyo County, 2007–2007.

Be ready

Get ready for what Lone Pine faces

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

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 ↗
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 ↗
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 Lone Pine

Is Lone Pine at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lone Pine has higher expected damage per building than 86% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (65%) and earthquakes (30%). 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 Lone Pine 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 Inyo County, 14% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Lone Pine?

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

Is Lone Pine at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (65%), and Lone Pine’s rate for it is higher than 84% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Lone Pine.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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