Natural hazards · Otis

Otis, CO natural hazards

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

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding39%Cold waves17%Hail16%Strong wind12%Tornadoes10%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Otis faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Otis flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Otis

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OtisDeclared for Washington County only

2006

Snow

$2K to the Town of Otis for repairs

Washington County has had 10 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. Otis 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 Otis’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Otis. 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.