Space Launch Complex 10 · Photo: U.S. Air Force · Public domainVandenberg AFB’s building-damage rate from wildfire is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Vandenberg AFB gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns, #77 of 847 in California. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (53%), then wildfire (23%). 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 Vandenberg AFB 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
Wildfire
Earthquakes
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 Vandenberg AFB’s grade
River and rain flooding is 53% of the building damage FEMA expects in Vandenberg AFB, and Vandenberg AFB’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 52% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 23%, at a rate in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
C+ #77 of 847 in California; higher expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Vandenberg AFB’s 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, Vandenberg AFB has less expected damage per building than 91% of California towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.6M a year in losses across Vandenberg AFB: $1.4M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Vandenberg AFB flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Vandenberg AFB. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Vandenberg AFB isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Santa Barbara County.The storms Vandenberg AFB remembers
None of the 32 disasters declared for Santa Barbara County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Vandenberg AFB itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Santa Barbara County has had 32 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 8 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Santa Barbara County, 2004–2021.
Vandenberg AFB and its neighbors
Vandenberg AFB has the lowest expected damage per building of the 2 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vandenberg AFB | C+more damage than 59% | river and rain flooding | 0 |
| Vandenberg Village | C+more damage than 60% | river and rain flooding | — |
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.
Get ready for what Vandenberg AFB faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Vandenberg AFB
Is Vandenberg AFB at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Vandenberg AFB has higher expected damage per building than 59% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk, #77 of 847 in California. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (53%) and wildfire (23%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Vandenberg AFB 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 Santa Barbara County, 27% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Vandenberg AFB?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Vandenberg AFB’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Vandenberg AFB at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (53%), and Vandenberg AFB’s rate for it is higher than 52% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Vandenberg AFB.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Vandenberg AFB’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.