Natural hazards · Ordway

Ordway, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ordway comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ordway?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ordway to be higher than in 62% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding34%Cold waves18%Hail17%Strong wind12%Lightning5%Tornadoes5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Ordway faces

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

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hail

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lightning

5% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 23 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Ordway flood?

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

Disasters that hit Ordway

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OrdwayDeclared for Crowley County only

2006

Snow

$2K to the Town of Ordway for repairs

1999

Co-Flooding 4/30/99

$35K to the Town of Ordway for repairs

Crowley County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

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