Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Pine Flat

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
Natural hazards in Pine Flat · FEMA

Storms, floods and disasters in Pine Flat

Pine Flat isn’t graded for hazard risk: Pine Flat has 228 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.

Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 17 declared for Tulare County
By hazard

What Pine Flat faces

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

Wildfire

52%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts

River and rain flooding

45%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Earthquakes Tornadoes Hail Strong wind Winter storms Heat waves top 5% Landslides Lightning Avalanches top 0% Volcanic activity top 2%
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesTsunamis
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts avalanches at 25% of Pine Flat’s expected losses. Avalanches 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.
Flood insurance claims

Does Pine Flat flood? No paid flood claims on record

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

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

Insurance rates: Tulare County.
Disasters

The storms Pine Flat remembers

None of the 17 disasters declared for Tulare County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Pine Flat itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Pine FlatTulare County only

Tulare County has had 17 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 3 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Tulare County, 2016–2020.

Next door

Pine Flat and its neighbors

How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.

California Hot Springs: not gradedCalifornia Hot SpringsPine Flat
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
California Hot Springs—21 residents; we grade 1,000+

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Pine Flat faces

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

Wildfire
  • 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.
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 Pine Flat

Is Pine Flat 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 Tulare County, 20% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 2.9% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Pine Flat?

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

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Pine Flat.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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