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Natural hazards · Fort Collins

Fort Collins, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fort Collins comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 37 claims here since 1982. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Fort Collins?

21
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fort Collins to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding40%Cold waves20%Tornadoes12%Hail11%Lightning8%Everything else10%
By hazard

What Fort Collins faces

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

Inland flooding

40% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Hail

11% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lightning

8% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDroughtVolcanic 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 Fort Collins flood?

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

37paid claims since 1982
$702Kpaid to owners
1homes flooded more than once
19822026

Biggest named events

  • Late summer storms: 3 claims, $20K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
🏷️ 40% off flood insurance. Fort Collins is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 2) for its flood-proofing work.
Insurance rates: Larimer County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

40buildings floodproofed
1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Fort Collins

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Fort Collins itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Fort Collins.

Brought FEMA money into Fort CollinsDeclared for Larimer County only
2013

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

82 households applied for aid $56K aid approved $458K to the City of Fort Collins for repairs
2012

High Park and Waldo Canyon Wildfires

$8K to the City of Fort Collins for repairs
2008

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

22 households applied for aid $12K aid approved
2006

Snow

$153K to the City of Fort Collins for repairs
2003

Snow

$102K to the City of Fort Collins for repairs
Larimer County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.
Around Fort Collins

Fort Collins and the towns around it

Windsor: High, mostly inland floodingTimnath: Low, mostly inland floodingSeverance: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGreeley: Low, mostly inland floodingLoveland: Low, mostly inland floodingFort Collins: Low, mostly inland flooding Fort CollinsWindsorTimnath
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Windsormostly inland floodingHigh
Timnathmostly inland floodingLow
Fort Collinsmostly inland floodingLow
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. Fort Collins covers 37 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fort Collins’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Fort Collins. 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 Fort Collins total about $36.5M 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.

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