Natural hazards · La Junta

La Junta, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in La Junta comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 32 claims here since 1990. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is La Junta?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in La Junta to be higher than in 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding57%Cold waves12%Lightning12%Strong wind7%Tornadoes5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What La Junta faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

12% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslides

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 La Junta flood?

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

32paid claims since 1990

$521Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19902026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. La Junta 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

42flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit La Junta

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into La JuntaDeclared for Otero County only

2006

Snow

$101K to the City of La Junta for repairs

1999

Co-Flooding 4/30/99

$22K to the City of La Junta 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. La Junta covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to La Junta’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of La Junta. 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 La Junta total about $2.2M 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.