Natural hazards · Westcliffe

Westcliffe, CO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Westcliffe comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Westcliffe?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Westcliffe to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and lightning.

Inland flooding51%Lightning26%Wildfire12%Hail5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Westcliffe faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lightning

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Wildfire

12% of expected damage

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

Hail

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Westcliffe flood?

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

Disasters that hit Westcliffe

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Custer County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Westcliffe itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into WestcliffeDeclared for Custer County only

Custer County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Westcliffe 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 Westcliffe’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Westcliffe. 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.