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P a g e | 12 Drought Drought is the cumulative impacts of several dry years on water users, which can include deficiencies in surface and subsurface water supplies, and effects on health, wellbeing, and quality of life. San Mateo County has experienced four significant droughts in the last 45 years, and droughts are likely to continue to occur in San Mateo County (San Mateo County 2016). Drought can lead to farmworker job loss (Mcclurg 2015), food insecurity (Mbow 2017), and can impact communities reliant on groundwater for drinking water. Earthquakes An earthquake is the shaking of the ground caused by an abrupt shift of rock along a fracture in the earth or a contact zone between tectonic plates. California is seismically active because it sits on the boundary between two of the earth’s tectonic plates. The last significant seismic event recorded in the San Mateo vicinity, occurred in 1989 during the San Andreas Loma Prieta Earthquake. Two groups who are particularly vulnerable to earthquake hazards are low income households and people over 65 years of age (San Mateo County 2016). Flood A flood is the inundation of normally dry land resulting from the rising and overflowing of a body of water. Heavy rains are the most frequent cause of flooding within San Mateo County jurisdictions, although coastal jurisdictions may also undergo flooding as a result of high winds, high tides, storm surge, and tsunami events (San Mateo County 2016). Additional indicators of vulnerability to flooding include:  Poor housing quality  Lack of housing affordability  Housing tenure  Communities with industrial/hazardous sites Landslide/Mass Movements  Communities with older infrastructure  Previously redlined communities  Lack of green spaces and vegetation  Increased impermeable surfaces  Limited number of roadways According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the term “landslide” includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes, and shallow debris flows. Landslides and mudslides can be initiated by storms, earthquakes, fires, or human modification of the land. Landslides have occurred regularly within San Mateo County and can pose a serious hazard to properties on or below hillsides. Landslides can result in the destruction of foundations, offset of roads, breaking of underground pipes, or overriding of downslope property and structures. Severe Weather/Extreme Weather Severe weather refers to any dangerous meteorological phenomena with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. It includes atmospheric rivers, extreme heat, extreme cold, lightning sieges, poor air quality, among other events. Indicators of vulnerability to extreme heat include:  Outdoor workers & farmworkers  Residents living in older homes  People who are unhoused  People susceptible to health impacts from poor air quality  Lack of air conditioning  Deforestation and lack of green spaces and tree cover  Lack of basic information on what to do during high heat days and smoky days  Lack of community shelters or resiliency hubs for cooling and smoke relief  Lack of a local or county/district emergency plan being in place  Lack of access to affordable health care  Paved surfaces and urban heat island effect