Natural hazards · Columbine

Columbine, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Columbine comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 1982.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Columbine?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Columbine to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hail.

Inland flooding39%Hail34%Tornadoes13%Lightning6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Columbine faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

34% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windVolcanic 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 Columbine flood?

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

6paid claims since 1982

$200Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19822026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Jefferson County.

Disasters that hit Columbine

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ColumbineDeclared for Jefferson County only

Jefferson County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Columbine

Columbine and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Columbine Valleymostly inland floodingHigh

Littletonmostly inland floodingModerate

Columbinemostly inland floodingModerate

Ken Carylmostly 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. Columbine covers 7 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Columbine’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Columbine. 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 Columbine total about $7.6M 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.