Natural hazards · Lyons

Lyons, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lyons comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 69 claims here since 1980. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Lyons?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lyons to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and avalanches.

Inland flooding47%Avalanches26%Wildfire19%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Lyons faces

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

Inland flooding

47% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Avalanches

26% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Wildfire

19% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamis

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 Lyons flood?

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

69paid claims since 1980

$4.7Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

Late summer storms: 63 claims, $4.7M

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Boulder County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

42flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

2homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Lyons

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LyonsDeclared for Boulder County only

2013

Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides

2,112 households applied for aid $6.3M aid approved $27.3M to the Town of Lyons for repairs

Boulder County has had 15 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. Lyons covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Lyons’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Lyons. 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 Lyons total about $6.9M 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.