628 flood insurance claims·$16.1M paid·7 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 Placer 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.
Prolonged river and roadway flooding dominates Placer County, as recorded by 68 standard flood events compared to 12 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Winter storms drive this risk, exemplified by a strong event in February 2025 that brought 2 to 5 inches of rain to the Valley and foothills, multiple feet of mountain snow above 5,000 feet, and southerly wind gusts up to 50 mph. This February 2025 event caused numerous valley flooding reports, prolonged road closures, and multiple search and rescue efforts, including portions of Highway 99 closing due to floodwaters.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that property owners across multiple zones experience financial loss, led by Zone A with 295 claims averaging $31,667 with an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Zone X accounts for 130 claims averaging $27,820 with an average water depth of 12 inches, while Zone X shaded properties recorded 68 claims with the highest average payout at $50,676 and an average water depth of 5 inches. Zone X unshaded properties filed 95 claims averaging $26,560 with an average water depth of 4 inches, and unknown zones recorded 40 claims averaging $16,120 with a 4-inch average water depth. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists tracking properties in Zone A and shaded Zone X areas should pay the closest attention due to high claim frequencies and payout averages.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
36% of Placer County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
458 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 5 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 1995, with 297 claims and $11.1M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, Mud Flows and Severe Winter Storms, Flooding Landslides, Mud Flow.
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.
37 NOAA storm reports from Placer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 9, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 8, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 27, 2022 |
| Mosquito Fire | Sep 9, 2022 |
| Caldor Fire | Aug 14, 2021 |
| River Fire | Aug 4, 2021 |
| Wildfires | Jul 14, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 3, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
80 since 1996: 12 flash floods and 68 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Dec 24, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Dec 21, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 23, 2024 | — · 2 killed |
| Flood | Feb 19, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 25, 2025. A prolonged period of wet weather brought heavy snowfall and strong winds to the Sierra Nevada. Heaviest snowfall was observed from 12/24-12/26 when snow levels came down below the mountain passes. Snowfall measurements over the 12/24-12/26 timeframe were around 2-5 ft per Caltrans, Ski resorts, and UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab. Southerly wind gusts of 50-80 mph were observed as well across the Valley, foot…
Flood · Dec 24, 2025. A prolonged period of wet weather brought heavy snowfall and strong winds to the Sierra Nevada. Heaviest snowfall was observed from 12/24-12/26 when snow levels came down below the mountain passes. Snowfall measurements over the 12/24-12/26 timeframe were around 2-5 ft per Caltrans, Ski resorts, and UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab. Southerly wind gusts of 50-80 mph were observed as well across the Valley, foot…
Flood · Dec 21, 2025. A series of atmospheric rivers brought moderate to heavy precipitation to interior northern California in the third week of December through the Christmas holiday. A Convergence Zone set up over Redding/Shasta County around 1 PM on Sunday, December 21. Heavy rain fell until around 7 PM, where there was a lull before another line redeveloped and brought additional moderate to heavy rain into the late evening. Over…
Flood · Nov 13, 2025. An Atmospheric River in the middle of November brought light mountain snow, widespread rainfall with roadway flooding, gusty winds, and thunderstorms from November 12th through November 14th. Around 1 to 4 inches of rain were observed across interior northern California over this 48 hour period. Gusty southerly winds of 25 to 65 mph were also observed as well. 4 to 12 inches of snow was estimated to have fallen at…
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 Placer 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.