Natural hazards · Leadville

Leadville, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Leadville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Leadville?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Leadville to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding69%Lightning11%Earthquakes8%Hail6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Leadville faces

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

Inland flooding

69% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 100 years in the area

Lightning

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Hail

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Leadville flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lake County.

Disasters that hit Leadville

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LeadvilleDeclared for Lake County only

2013

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

$15K to the City of Leadville for repairs

Lake County has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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. Leadville 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 Leadville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Leadville. 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.