Kern, CA
Kern County in California has 10 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1967–2023, most recently Tropical Storm Hilary on Nov 21, 2023 (DR-4750). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #412 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 13 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $116,930 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Kern County
The 10 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Kern County, CA (1967–2023). Total declarations on record: 10.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 21, 2023 | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Hilary | DR-4750 |
| Mar 10, 2023 | Flood | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | DR-3592 |
| Mar 16, 2017 | Flood | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides | DR-4305 |
| Jan 26, 2011 | Flood | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Debris and MUD Flows | DR-1952 |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | DR-3248 |
| Feb 25, 1992 | Flood | Rain/Snow/Wind Storms, Flooding, Mudslides | DR-935 |
| Feb 9, 1983 | Coastal Storm | Coastal Storms, Floods, Slides & Tornadoes | DR-677 |
| Feb 15, 1978 | Flood | Coastal Storms, Mudslides & Flooding | DR-547 |
| Jan 26, 1969 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-253 |
| Jan 2, 1967 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-223 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 17 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in California
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | A | 17 | 163 | 12 |
| Alameda | A | 18 | 24 | 9 |
| Lake | A | 19 | 28 | 8 |
| Monterey | A | 19 | 28 | 10 |
| San Mateo | A | 19 | 33 | 9 |
| Santa Clara | A | 19 | 39 | 8 |
More Counties in California
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Kern County, CA have?
Kern County, CA has 10 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1967–2023). The 5 most recent are: Tropical Storm Hilary (declared Nov 21, 2023, DR-4750); Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (declared Mar 10, 2023, DR-3592); Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides (declared Mar 16, 2017, DR-4305); Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Debris and MUD Flows (declared Jan 26, 2011, DR-1952); Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (declared Sep 13, 2005, DR-3248). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Kern County, CA?
Kern County is graded A (composite score 17/100, low risk). It ranks #412 of 3,277 U.S. counties for flood risk in our scoring model. The grade combines NFIP claims density (40%), disaster frequency (25%), claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%).
How many NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Kern County?
13 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Kern County, CA, totaling $116,930 in payouts. The average claim is $8,995. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Kern County, CA had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Kern County was Tropical Storm Hilary on Nov 21, 2023 (DR-4750). The county has 10 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1967–2023.
this entity is one of the data points covered by this site’s U.S. flood risk, NFIP claims, and disaster declarations dataset. The detail above comes directly from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the context that follows situates the headline numbers against the broader distribution across U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states.
Every number on this page links back to FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.