Natural hazards · Elizabeth

Elizabeth, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elizabeth comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elizabeth?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elizabeth to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire39%Inland flooding27%Hail12%Tornadoes9%Cold waves7%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Elizabeth faces

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

Wildfire

39% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Elizabeth flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Elbert County.

Disasters that hit Elizabeth

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElizabethDeclared for Elbert County only

2006

Snow

$3K to the Town of Elizabeth for repairs

2003

Snow

$3K to the Town of Elizabeth for repairs

Elbert County has had 11 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. Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Elizabeth. 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.