Minturn’s biggest natural hazard is avalanches
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Minturn comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1987.
What stands out about Minturn’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
What Minturn faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Avalanches
Inland flooding
Does Minturn flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 1987
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Minturn, from FEMA’s records.
Minturn isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Eagle County.How exposed is Minturn?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and inland flooding.
Rated higher than 447 of the 481 Colorado towns we cover.
Minturn is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Federal disasters declared here
None of the disasters declared for Eagle County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Minturn itself in FEMA’s records.
Eagle County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.
Get ready for what Minturn actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Check the avalanche forecast before heading into the backcountry.
- Carry a beacon, probe and shovel, and know how to use them.
- Most avalanches are set off by the people caught in them.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Keep a shovel, a blanket and snacks in the car.
- Clear snow from furnace and dryer vents.
- Check on older neighbors when the power goes out.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Minturn and its neighbors
How storm and flood risk compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minturn | Very high | avalanches | 1 |
| Red Cliff | Very high | avalanches | 0 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Minturn’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Minturn.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Minturn.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.