Natural hazards · Cheraw

Cheraw, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cheraw comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cheraw?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cheraw to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding54%Drought20%Cold waves7%Lightning6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Cheraw faces

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

Inland flooding

54% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

20% of expected damage

Recorded about 90 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong wind

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Cheraw flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Otero County.

Disasters that hit Cheraw

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CherawDeclared for Otero County only

2006

Snow

$4K to the Town of Cheraw for repairs

Otero County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

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. Cheraw is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

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

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.