9,104 flood insurance claims·$72.4M paid·11 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 Los Angeles 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.
Flash flooding from severe weather events dominates the flood risk profile in Los Angeles County, accounting for 210 out of 225 total flood events and 7 deaths over the last 30 years, alongside 14 general flood events and 1 storm surge event.
Recent winter storms illustrate this hazard. A powerful winter storm on February 13, 2025, produced heavy rainfall with totals up to 8 inches reported in the mountains, strong southerly winds gusting up to 87 MPH, thunderstorms, a weak tornado, and numerous reports of flooding. A subsequent late-season winter storm on March 13, 2025, brought coastal and mountain rainfall ranging from 0.50 to 4 inches, mountain snowfall up to 18 inches, wind gusts up to 77 MPH, and additional flooding.
NFIP claims data shows varied impacts across designated zones. Homeowners and real estate agents should pay close attention to areas carrying significant claim volumes, including unshaded Zone X with 2,711 claims (average payout of $12,041, average recorded water depth of 3 inches), Zone X with 1,890 claims (average payout of $22,267, average recorded water depth of 20 inches), Zone A with 1,794 claims (average payout of $16,160, average recorded water depth of 5 inches), and coastal Zone V properties with 632 claims (average payout of $21,046, average recorded water depth of 7 inches).
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
55% of Los Angeles County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
5,337 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 6 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 1998, with 1,399 claims and $9.2M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms and Flooding.
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.
80 NOAA storm reports from Los Angeles County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
88 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Canyon Fire | Aug 7, 2025 |
| Eaton Fire | Jan 7, 2025 |
| Hurst Fire | Jan 7, 2025 |
| Palisades Fire | Jan 7, 2025 |
| Wildfires And Straight-line Winds | Jan 7, 2025 |
| Franklin Fire | Dec 10, 2024 |
| Bridge Fire | Sep 10, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jan 31, 2024 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
225 since 1996: 210 flash floods, 14 river or area floods and 1 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Oct 14, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Oct 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 30, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 19, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Oct 14, 2025. A strong, early-season, storm brought heavy rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms to the area. With the heavy rainfall, numerous reports of flooding were reported. The thunderstorms resulted in reports of wind damage across the area.
Flood · Oct 14, 2025. A strong, early-season, storm brought heavy rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms to the area. With the heavy rainfall, numerous reports of flooding were reported. The thunderstorms resulted in reports of wind damage across the area.
Flash Flood · Mar 13, 2025. A late-season winter storm brought numerous weather hazards to Southwestern California. Rainfall totals generally ranged between 0.50 and 1.50 inches across coastal areas up to 4 inches in the mountains. Winter storm conditions developed in the mountains with snowfall totals up to 18 inches and southerly wind gusts up to 77 MPH. Thunderstorms, associated with this system, brought some reports of flooding as well…
Flash Flood · Feb 13, 2025. A powerful winter storm impacted all of Southwestern California. The storm generated strong southerly winds, gusting up to 87 MPH. The storm also produced very heavy rainfall with totals up to 8 inches reported in the mountains along with numerous reports of flooding. Also, thunderstorms associated with the winter storm produced a weak tornado.
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 Los Angeles 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.