Natural hazards · Oro Valley

Oro Valley, AZ natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oro Valley comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1983. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Oro Valley?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oro Valley to be higher than in 76% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and heat waves.

Inland flooding63%Heat waves25%Wildfire11%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Oro Valley faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

63% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Heat waves

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingIce stormsCold wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Oro Valley flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Oro Valley, from FEMA’s records.

10paid claims since 1983

$188Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19832026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Oro Valley isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Pima County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Oro Valley

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Oro Valley itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Oro Valley.

Brought FEMA money into Oro ValleyDeclared for Pima County only

2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

$1.1M to the Town of Oro Valley for repairs

Pima County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

Around Oro Valley

Oro Valley and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Catalinamostly wildfiresVery high

Casas Adobesmostly inland floodingVery high

Oro Valleymostly inland floodingHigh

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Oro Valley covers 8 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Oro Valley’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Oro Valley. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Oro Valley total about $18.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.