52 flood insurance claims·$1.0M paid·5 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Lassen County, California. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
6% of Lassen County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
48 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 4 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2017, with 22 claims and $882,024 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
6 NOAA storm reports from Lassen County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Dixie Fire | Jul 20, 2021 |
| Wildfires | Jul 14, 2021 |
| Sheep Fire | Aug 17, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Aug 14, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Feb 1, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 3, 2017 |
| Bald Fire | Aug 2, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Landslides | Dec 17, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
13 since 1996: 2 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 24, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Dec 22, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 24, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 9, 2017 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Jan 8, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Feb 7, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2006 | — |
| Flood | Dec 31, 2005 | $5.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 24, 2025. Liquid totals reached 3-6 across the Eastern Sierra, Tahoe Basin , and Northeast California from the series of storms. Snowfall in the Sierra from this multi-day event was generally 3-6 feet in areas above 7000 feet, with 1-2 feet down to lake level in the Tahoe Basin and along US-395 above 6000 feet in Mono County. Northeast CA received between 1-6��� of snowfall, with 8-18��� west of US-395 near and…
Flood · Dec 22, 2025. Amounts of 2-6 of rain fell across NE CA and the Tahoe Basin, with snow levels dipping as low as 7000 feet. Up to 6 of snow fell at that elevation with 12-20 of snow above 8000 feet in the Tahoe Basin. Wind gusts of 50-65 mph were recorded, with Sierra ridge top gusts of 70-90 mph.
Flash Flood · Oct 24, 2021. A strong atmospheric river event produced a major heavy rain, high wind, and high elevation snow event for much of the region. Record-setting rainfall amounts for many areas of the Sierra into western Nevada. NWS Reno received multiple reports of mud and rock slides in the Sierra along I-80 near the summit, and CA 70 and CA 89 in Sierra, Plumas, and Lassen Counties.
Flood · Feb 9, 2017. Two significant waves of precipitation associated with an atmospheric river brought heavy rain and higher elevation (mainly above 6500 feet) snowfall to northeast California. Widespread rainfall totals between 5 and 8 inches were reported between the 6th and 10th, with rainfall and/or liquid equivalent amounts up to between 10 and 16 inches near the northern Sierra crest. The rainfall brought widespread flooding t…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Lassen County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.