Natural hazards · Black Forest

Black Forest, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Black Forest comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Black Forest?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Black Forest to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire56%Inland flooding24%Tornadoes8%Hail6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Black Forest faces

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

Wildfire

56% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 36 years in the area

Hail

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Black Forest flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Black Forest.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: El Paso County.

Disasters that hit Black Forest

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for El Paso County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Black Forest itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Black ForestDeclared for El Paso County only

El Paso County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

Around Black Forest

Black Forest and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Black Forestmostly wildfiresVery high

Colorado Springsmostly inland floodingModerate

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. Black Forest covers 5 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Black Forest’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Black Forest. 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 Black Forest total about $11.1M 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.