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Mission de Oro (Santa Nella, California)Photo: Cristiano Tomás · CC BY-SA 4.0
DHazard risk
Natural hazards in Santa Nella · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Santa Nella faces more hazard damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Santa Nella gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (74%), then river and rain flooding (22%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

Earthquakes 74%River and rain flooding 22%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 88%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 88% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
Earthquakes
74% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 16 declared for Merced County
By hazard

What Santa Nella faces

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

Earthquakes

74%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts

River and rain flooding

22%of expected building damage
Below average · lower than 75% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Wildfire Tornadoes Hail Strong wind Winter storms Heat waves Landslides Lightning
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts drought at 55% of Santa Nella’s expected losses. Drought does 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.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Santa Nella’s grade

Earthquakes are 74% of the building damage FEMA expects in Santa Nella, and Santa Nella’s rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 4%, at a rate in the top 6% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Santa Nella sits
Santa Nella
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
Earthquakes74%River and rain flooding22%Wildfire4%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $7.6M a year in losses across Santa Nella: $2.4M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Santa Nella’s 2,211 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract. FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s. 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 Santa Nella flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Santa Nella. 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

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

Insurance rates: Merced County.
Disasters

The storms Santa Nella remembers

None of the 16 disasters declared for Merced County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Santa Nella itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Santa NellaMerced County only

Merced County has had 16 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.

Be ready

Get ready for what Santa Nella faces

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

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 ↗
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 Santa Nella

Is Santa Nella at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Santa Nella has higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (74%) and river and rain flooding (22%). 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 Santa Nella 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 Merced County, 24% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 5.2% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Santa Nella?

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

Is Santa Nella at risk from earthquakes?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (74%), and Santa Nella’s rate for it is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Santa Nella.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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