Santa Cruz County
Explore Risk in Santa Cruz County
Property insurance is often the first, fastest, and most comprehensive source of funds for households, businesses, and local governments rebuilding after a disaster. Below you will find information resources about IRPP communities that help identify property insurance protection gaps and further embed consideration of insurance outcomes in hazard mitigation planning decisions.
Santa Cruz County’s Property Insurance Needs
Explore Santa Cruz County’s information on property insurance gaps, hazard exposure, and housing stock vulnerabilities.
Download our full Insurance Resilience Planning Program needs assessment report to read about community-specific and cross-cutting needs in more detail.
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This needs assessment research includes public administrative data from the US Army Corps of Engineers’ National Structure Inventory, US Small Business Administration, CAL FIRE’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer, OpenFEMA, the California Department of Insurance, and the California FAIR Plan. Qualitative information was gathered from key informant interviews with 30+ local experts on housing and disaster recovery working in Insurance Resilience Planning Program-eligible areas.
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Flood Risk and Insurance
Flood Risk and Insurance Indicators in Insurance Resilience Planning Program Communities
Credit: Xuesong You, PhD
Flood Risk Community Resources
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FEMA NFIP Resources
Read FEMA National Flood Insurance Program fact sheets and explore their quote tool.
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FEMA CRS Overview
Overview of FEMA Community Rating System mitigation activities and participation.
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FEMA CRS Discount Guide
Explore FEMA CRS discounts and example scenarios.
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ASFPM NFIP Resources
Association of State Floodplain Managers’ NFIP resource center.
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DWR NFIP Resources
Find address-level FEMA flood zone status information in your community.
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FEMA Flood Map Service Center
Find address-level FEMA flood zone status information in your community.
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IRPP Flood Webinar
Watch the August 2026 IRPP webinar “Flood Insurance: Challenges and New Solutions”
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Interactive Tool
Explore flood insurance take-up rates and other flood-related metrics in this Insurance for Good interactive tool.
Wildfire Risk and Insurance
Wildfire Risk and Insurance Indicators in Insurance Resilience Planning Program Communities
Credit: Xuesong You, PhD
Wildfire Community Resources
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CA CDI Wildfire Recovery and Readiness Resources
California Department of Insurance resources for individuals impacted by wildfires or interested in strengthening wildfire preparedness.
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Safer from Wildfire Regulations
Explore California Department of Insurance regulations implemented in 2022 that link mitigation activities with insurance cost savings.
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CA CDI Sustainable Insurance Strategy
Read about CDI’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy.
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Do Insurers Reward Wildfire Resilience?
Read an Insurance for Good analysis of the Safer from Wildfire regulations.
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Community Wildfire Protection Plans
Explore CAL FIRE’s Community Wildfire Protection Plans Toolkit.
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Exploring Recent Growth in the FAIR Plan
Learn about recent FAIR Plan trends in this analysis by Insurance for Good.
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CAL FIRE Community Wildfire Preparedness
Read about CAL FIRE’s Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation resources.
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Co-benefits of Wildfire-Resistant Homes
Read Headwaters Economics’ research on the financial co-benefits of wildfire-resistant homes.
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WRAP Resource Center
Learn from United Policyholders’ Wildfire Risk Reduction and Asset Protection Initiative Resource Center.
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CA Fire Safe Council Home Hardening Hub
Read about strategies to reduce your property’s risk in CA Fire Safe Council’s Home Hardening Hub.
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IRPP Wildfire Webinar
Watch the July 2026 IRPP webinar “Making Homes Insurable in High Wildfire-Risk Areas”
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Fire Adapted Communities
Learn more from the California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force’s resources on increasing wildfire resilience.
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Prescribed Fire
Read a recent Insurance for Good analysis of prescribed fires as a risk management tool.
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Zone Zero Guidance
Read the California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection's Zone Zero guidance issued in September 2026.
Insurance Innovation and Solutions
Please stay tuned for pathways and solutions being considered in IRPP communities. Below are recent Insurance for Good blog posts on insurance innovations.
