Silver Plume’s biggest natural hazard is avalanches
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Silver Plume comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1986. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Silver Plume’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
What Silver Plume 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 Silver Plume flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 1986
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Silver Plume, from FEMA’s records.
Silver Plume isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Clear Creek County.How exposed is Silver Plume?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 97% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and inland flooding.
Rated higher than 460 of the 481 Colorado towns we cover.
Silver Plume is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Silver Plume
Disasters that paid out in Silver Plume itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Silver Plume) and its biggest flood years.
- 2003Snow$5K to the Town of Silver Plume for repairs
Clear Creek County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Old photos of Silver Plume after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Silver Plume archive →Get ready for what Silver Plume 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.
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 Silver Plume’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Silver Plume.
- 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 Silver Plume.
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.