Natural hazards · Carbondale

Carbondale, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Carbondale comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1995.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Carbondale?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Carbondale to be higher than in 89% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and avalanches.

Inland flooding61%Avalanches36%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Carbondale faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Avalanches

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesTsunamis

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 Carbondale flood?

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

1paid claims since 1995

$210paid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19952026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Garfield County.

Disasters that hit Carbondale

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Garfield County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Carbondale itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into CarbondaleDeclared for Garfield County only

Garfield County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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. Carbondale covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Carbondale’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Carbondale. 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 Carbondale total about $5.7M 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.