Natural hazards · Taos

Taos, MO natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Taos comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2017. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Taos?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Taos to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding53%Heat waves15%Tornadoes14%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Taos faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

15% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 52 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Taos flood?

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

1paid claims since 2017

$33Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20172026

Biggest named events

Late spring severe storms: 1 claim, $33K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cole County.

Disasters that hit Taos

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TaosDeclared for Cole County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$3K to the City of Taos for repairs

Cole County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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