San Bernardino County, California: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Flash Flood, with 836 records.
- The costliest single record is Wildfire in 2003: $696.4M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Debris Flow in 2003, with 14 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 61 disasters that named this county, most often for fire.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 1980, with 103 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 61 disasters that named San Bernardino County between 1965 and 2024.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | 33 | 2024 |
| Flood | 13 | 2023 |
| Severe Storm | 7 | 2023 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Earthquake | 2 | 2019 |
| Freezing | 2 | 2007 |
| Coastal Storm | 1 | 1983 |
| Hurricane | 1 | 2005 |
Most recent declarations
- FM-5537 2024 · Fire · Bridge Fire
- FM-5535 2024 · Fire · Line Fire
- EM-3592 2023 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
- DR-4699 2023 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
- EM-3591 2023 · Flood · Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
- FM-5381 2020 · Fire · Blue Ridge Fire
- FM-5350 2020 · Fire · El Dorado Fire
- DR-4569 2020 · Fire · Wildfires
- FM-5325 2020 · Fire · Apple Fire
- DR-4482 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
Not counted above: 34 statewide declarations, which covered every county in California. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | 836 | 21 | 46 | $190.9M |
| High Wind | 664 | 7 | 29 | $45.8M |
| Excessive Heat | 317 | 9 | 2 | $520K |
| Wildfire | 236 | 13 | 204 | $1.3B |
| Flood | 163 | 1 | 6 | $123.0M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 158 | 3 | 6 | $5.4M |
| Heavy Snow | 132 | 1 | 0 | $1.1M |
| Heavy Rain | 124 | 2 | 7 | $111.0M |
| Strong Wind | 116 | 8 | 7 | $2.8M |
| Drought | 78 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Lightning | 63 | 3 | 9 | $1.4M |
| Winter Weather | 61 | 2 | 0 | $80K |
| Debris Flow | 60 | 15 | 10 | $26.8M |
| Hail | 60 | 0 | 0 | $369K |
| Dense Fog | 58 | 2 | 94 | $2.3M |
| Dust Storm | 45 | 2 | 0 | $135K |
| Heat | 39 | 18 | 15 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 33 | 1 | 9 | $1.3M |
| Frost/Freeze | 16 | 0 | 0 | $1.2M |
| Funnel Cloud | 16 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tornado | 16 | 0 | 0 | $41K |
| Avalanche | 5 | 0 | 2 | $30K |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 5 | 0 | 0 | $170K |
| Dust Devil | 4 | 0 | 14 | $68K |
| Tropical Storm | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Blizzard | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Astronomical Low Tide | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Surf | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone. A storm filed against a forecast zone is counted in every county that zone covers, with the whole storm's damage; do not add these figures across counties.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in San Bernardino County each year. The busiest year was 2022, with 284 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 16 | 2 | $155K |
| 1997 | 57 | 0 | $6.5M |
| 1998 | 51 | 0 | $36.5M |
| 1999 | 72 | 2 | $16.5M |
| 2000 | 49 | 2 | $2.6M |
| 2001 | 87 | 3 | $5.0M |
| 2002 | 72 | 2 | $6.9M |
| 2003 | 71 | 25 | $1.0B |
| 2004 | 94 | 2 | $10.8M |
| 2005 | 121 | 1 | $148.7M |
| 2006 | 52 | 13 | $12.5M |
| 2007 | 85 | 10 | $152.0M |
| 2008 | 98 | 6 | $2.4M |
| 2009 | 107 | 4 | $3.0M |
| 2010 | 92 | 1 | $136.2M |
| 2011 | 92 | 3 | $2.7M |
| 2012 | 115 | 0 | $1.3M |
| 2013 | 89 | 3 | $44.0M |
| 2014 | 128 | 2 | $4.1M |
| 2015 | 120 | 1 | $6.1M |
| 2016 | 95 | 0 | $51.0M |
| 2017 | 89 | 3 | $13.0M |
| 2018 | 108 | 0 | $1.3M |
| 2019 | 167 | 5 | $19.6M |
| 2020 | 141 | 5 | $378K |
| 2021 | 204 | 2 | $2.8M |
| 2022 | 284 | 7 | $12.1M |
| 2023 | 227 | 1 | $7.0M |
| 2024 | 155 | 1 | $46.6M |
| 2025 | 157 | 2 | $5.1M |
| 2026 | 19 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Wildfire · Oct 25, 2003$696.4MNOAA name: San Bernardino County · 4 deaths · 5 injuries · NOAA record 5335897
- Wildfire · Nov 1, 2003$278.6MNOAA name: San Bernardino County · 2 deaths · 7 injuries · NOAA record 5336552
- Flood · Dec 19, 2010$97.0MNOAA name: San Bernardino County · NOAA record 272612
- Heavy Rain · Jan 7, 2005$70.0MNOAA name: San Bernardino County · NOAA record 5436692
- Wildfire · Oct 22, 2007$65.0MNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · 9 injuries · NOAA record 64390
Deadliest records
- Debris Flow · Dec 25, 200314 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · $5.0M damage · 10 injuries · NOAA record 5328281
- Heat · Jul 21, 200610 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · 6 injuries · NOAA record 5523072
- Wildfire · Oct 25, 20034 deathsNOAA name: San Bernardino County · $696.4M damage · 5 injuries · NOAA record 5335897
- Excessive Heat · Sep 1, 20074 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · 2 injuries · NOAA record 60733
- Strong Wind · Nov 9, 20084 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · $1.0M damage · NOAA record 135072
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $8.6M on 811 claims in San Bernardino County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 103 | $587K |
| 2005 | 79 | $903K |
| 2010 | 59 | $1.0M |
| 1983 | 55 | $73K |
| 2003 | 45 | $706K |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in San Bernardino County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 281 NCEI events over 31 years (9.06/yr). 7 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 1,123 NCEI events over 31 years (36.23/yr). 13 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 228 NCEI events over 31 years (7.35/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 379 NCEI events over 31 years (12.23/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Drought | 3 | 78 NCEI events over 31 years (2.52/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Wild Fire | 3 | 236 NCEI events over 31 years (7.61/yr). 33 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 780 NCEI events over 31 years (25.16/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 3 | 65 NCEI events over 31 years (2.10/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 2 | 3 NCEI events over 31 years (0.10/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 16 NCEI events over 31 years (0.52/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Earthquake | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in San Bernardino County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events against a county and others against an NWS forecast zone, and publishes a code for both. Records are counted as San Bernardino County by that code — county records by the county's own FIPS code, zone records through the National Weather Service's published list of which counties each zone covers. No name matching is involved. Of 3,314 records, 1,579 were filed against this county and 1,735 against a forecast zone covering it. A zone storm is counted in every county its zone covers, and its damage figure is the whole storm's, not this county's share — NOAA does not publish that split. So these figures describe this county; they must not be added up across counties. Left out: 29% of California's NOAA records, which are marine zones or zones NWS does not map to a county.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
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Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.