Natural hazards · Rocky Ford

Rocky Ford, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rocky Ford comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1997. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Rocky Ford?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rocky Ford to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves12%Lightning12%Strong wind7%Tornadoes5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Rocky Ford faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce 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 Rocky Ford flood?

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

2paid claims since 1997

$22Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19972026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Otero County.

Disasters that hit Rocky Ford

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Rocky FordDeclared for Otero County only

2006

Snow

$18K to the City of Rocky Ford for repairs

1999

Co-Flooding 4/30/99

$21K to the City of Rocky Ford for repairs

Otero County has had 7 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. Rocky Ford 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 Rocky Ford’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rocky Ford. 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.